FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Angie Porter
919-297-7152
aporter@ASEcho.org

American Society of Echocardiography Appoints 2023-2024 Board President

(DURHAM, NC, June 30, 2023)—The American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) is pleased to announce the appointment of Benjamin W. Eidem, MD, FASE, as the organization’s new Board of Directors President, effective July 1, 2023.

During the 34^th Annual Scientific Sessions in National Harbor, Md., June 23-26, Dr. Eidem shared his vision as the 2023-2024 ASE President. ASE is the largest global organization for cardiovascular ultrasound professionals, enthusiasts, and multidisciplinary partners, and he explained that his presidency will primarily focus on the value of membership in the Society. As only the second pediatric cardiologist to lead ASE since it was founded in 1975, he plans to focus on three important initiatives he sums up as (1) ASE Matters, (2) ASE Mentors and (3) ASE Educates.

ASE Matters will help expand the organization’s opportunities for leadership and service, ASE Mentors will help foster engagement among new and longtime members and facilitate the training of future leaders in the field, and ASE Educates will address the ongoing need for education and training of adult sonographers in the area of adult congenital heart disease to better serve patients.

“Cardiovascular ultrasound imaging is a challenging and rewarding field comprised of a diverse group of professions made up of many specialties and subspecialties,” said Dr. Eidem. “In my term as President, I want to balance the varied needs of individual members, while also addressing the needs of our entire field. Increased member involvement advances and grows ASE and cardiovascular ultrasound.”

Dr. Eidem has held numerous leadership and volunteer positions on committees, councils, task forces, and writing groups, and served as chair of the Finance and Education committees, among others. He has been a member of ASE since 1995 and achieved Fellowship status from the Society in 2003. He most recently served on the Executive Committee on ASE’s Board of Directors as the 2022-2023 President-Elect.

Originally from St. Paul, Minn., Dr. Eidem earned his medical degree from Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit, Mich. He completed his residency in Pediatrics from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, before moving back to his home state to complete his fellowship in Pediatric Cardiology from Mayo Graduate School of Medicine. He is currently the Director of Pediatric and Congenital Echocardiography at Mayo Clinic and is a Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in the Departments of Pediatrics and Cardiology.

ASE membership also elected ten new Board members to serve the Society starting July 1, 2023. The ASE Executive Committee welcomes newly elected Vice President David H. Wiener, MD, FASE, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA, who will serve a one-year term.

The following new Board members were elected to serve two-year terms: Craig Fleishman, MD, FASE, Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, Orlando, FL (Pediatric and Congenital Heart Disease Council); Enrique Garcia-Sayan, MD, FASE, FACC, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX (Member at Large); Allison Hays, MD, FASE, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, (Member at Large); Lanqi Hua, ACS, APCA, RDCS (AE, PE, FE) MS, FASE, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA (Member at Large); Sheela Pai-Cole, MD, FASE, Stanford University Medical Center, Palo Alto, CA (Perioperative Echocardiography Council); Lucy Safi, DO, FASE, Mount Sinai, New York City, NY (Leadership Academy Representative); Seda Tierney, MD, FASE, Stanford University Medical Center, Palo Alto, CA (Member at Large); and Susan Wiegers, MD, FASE, Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, Philadelphia, PA (Past President Representative). Paul Mayo, MD, FASE, Northwell Health, New Hyde Park, NY (Critical Care Echocardiography Council) will serve a one-year term.

Learn more about ASE by visiting, ASEcho.org.

About American Society of Echocardiography
American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) is the Society for Cardiovascular Ultrasound Professionals™. ASE is the largest global organization for cardiovascular ultrasound imaging serving physicians, sonographers, nurses, veterinarians, and scientists and as such is the leader and advocate, setting practice standards and guidelines for the field. The Society is committed to advancing cardiovascular ultrasound to improve lives. For more information, visit the ASE website ASEcho.org or social media pages on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Angie Porter
919-297-7152
APorter@ASEcho.org

Advances in Echocardiography Lead to Promising Research for Placing Pacemaker Devices

(DURHAM, NC, June 23, 2023)—Research that will be presented at the American Society of Echocardiography’s (ASE) 34th Annual Scientific Sessions, June 23-26, 2023, in National Harbor, Md., will share how advances in echocardiography resulted in more accurately placed pacemaker devices.

Some pacemakers use flexible, insulated wires—also known as leads—to deliver electrical pulses that help hearts beat at a normal rate and rhythm. The current standard practice for placing pacemaker leads is fluoroscopic/X-ray guidance. However, a new research study conducted by Children’s Hospital Colorado in Aurora, Colo., found that three-dimensional (3D) echocardiography resulted in more accurate pacemaker lead placement when compared to X-ray technology.

The study’s lead author Dr. Dale Burkett, who is an Assistant Professor in Pediatrics-Cardiology at Children’s Hospital Colorado, explained that when pacemaker leads are placed in the ideal location, they are able to better mimic the heart’s normal electrical conduction and reduce the long-term risk of heart dysfunction. Additionally, 3D echocardiography lowers both the patient’s and the cardiology staff’s exposure to radiation during the procedure.

“By using 3D echocardiography guidance, we are able to better visualize pacemaker leads as they move through the heart and guide them to where they are intended to go,” says Dr. Burkett. “Our work demonstrates that with advances in echocardiography, we can provide higher quality care for our patients who need permanent pacemakers for heart rhythm management.”

Highlighting continuing innovations in the cardiovascular ultrasound field, nearly 400 abstract poster presentations will be featured during ASE 2023. This study, titled 3D Echocardiography Guidance for Pacemaker Lead Placement Improves Accuracy of Lead Placement and Reduces QRS Duration Compared to Fluoroscopic Guidance, will be presented Sunday, June 25, 4 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. ET at the Gaylord National Harbor Resort and Convention Center. Learn more about ASE 2023 and download the conference’s final event program at ASEScientificSessions.org.

About American Society of Echocardiography
The American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) is the Society for Cardiovascular Ultrasound Professionals™. ASE is the largest global organization for cardiovascular ultrasound imaging serving physicians, sonographers, nurses, veterinarians, and scientists and as such is the leader and advocate, setting practice standards and guidelines for the field. The Society is committed to advancing cardiovascular ultrasound to improve lives. For more information, visit ASE’s website ASEcho.org or social media pages on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Angie Porter
919-297-7152
APorter@ASEcho.org

Artificial Intelligence in Cardiovascular Imaging Research Highlighted at ASE 2023

(DURHAM, NC, June 23, 2023)—Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the field of cardiovascular ultrasound imaging, and research studies are examining the ways that AI can most benefit patients and medical practitioners.

AI-related research is a prominent topic at the American Society of Echocardiography’s (ASE) 34th Annual Scientific Sessions, June 23-26, 2023, in National Harbor, Md. This year’s meeting is appropriately named Foundations and the Future of Cardiovascular Ultrasound and will focus on education, science and innovation.

Three AI research studies that will be presented during the meeting highlight different AI tools including AI-powered chat interactions, identifying patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and identifying life-threating valve disease. The findings from each of these studies will be presented Sunday, June 25, 2 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. at the Gaylord National Harbor Resort and Convention Center. Learn more about ASE 2023 and download the conference’s final event program at ASEScientificSessions.org.

Using AI-Powered Chat Interactions with Patients

The rise of online chat-based AI models has opened up new possibilities in the field of medicine. A new research study titled Enhancing Patient Comprehension of Echocardiography Reports through Artificial Intelligence-Powered Chat Interactions examines how chat-based AI technology could potentially improve the healthcare experience for cardiovascular ultrasound patients.

Echocardiography reports are crucial for diagnosing and monitoring heart conditions, but they are oftentimes filled with complex medical terminology and numerous abbreviations that can be difficult for patients to understand. Providers use these reports to explain medical findings to patients, and patients can use the reports to actively engage in their healthcare, participate in insightful discussions with their doctors and obtain a better comprehension of treatment strategies.

“Our research is fundamentally about patient education and bridging the gap between medical complexity and patient understanding,” says lead author Dr. Joseph Kassab, a cardiovascular imaging research fellow at Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. “By leveraging AI-powered chat interactions, it is our hope that in the future, we might be able to provide patients with a medically validated tool to explore and better understand their echocardiography reports on their own time. Doctors continue to provide their irreplaceable expertise, while the AI models serve as a supportive educational tool, making information more accessible to patients.”

AI Can Detect HFpEF with Greater Ease and Precision

Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is a major cause of disease and death worldwide, and diagnosis can be challenging. Various algorithms that include clinical risk factors and echocardiography measurements have been developed for diagnosis but are indeterminate in many patients. A research study titled Automated Echocardiographic Detection of Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction using Artificial Intelligence applies AI to analyze a single, routinely acquired echocardiographic video clip in an effort to identify patients with HFpEF, a group with increased morbidity and mortality.

“Our novel AI model demonstrated excellent discrimination of patients with HFpEF versus without, more often than with clinical scores, and it was able to stratify patients according to mortality risk,” said the study’s senior author Dr. Patricia A. Pellikka, chair, Division of Cardiovascular Ultrasound at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. “Further testing in varied populations and in different echocardiography labs is needed to refine the model, but it could potentially be used for screening and importantly, expedite diagnosis and treatment for a large group of patients.”

The deep learning-based AI algorithm was developed as a result of institution and industry collaboration. Mayo Clinic and Ultromics, an AI echocardiography company spun out of the University of Oxford, joined forces to develop the algorithm, which was cleared by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2022 after being awarded breakthrough device status. The research was supported by a grant from the ASE Foundation.

AI Technology Supports Echocardiography in Determining Aortic Stenosis Severity

Aortic Stenosis (AS) is a common form of valvular heart disease, and it is estimated to be present in over 12% of the population aged 75 years and above. Transthoracic echocardiography is the first line of cardiovascular imaging in determining the severity of AS and requires expert sonographic and interpretation capabilities to yield accurate results. AI technology has emerged as a useful tool to address these limitations but has not yet been applied in a fully hands off manner to evaluate AS.

A new research study titled Fully Automated Artificial Intelligence Assessment of Aortic Stenosis by Echocardiography tested an AI tool to measure echocardiographic markers of AS severity without human input. The AI-derived measurements were highly accurate when compared against expert cardiologist assessment.

“AI technology can allow for near instantaneous and hands-free identification of a life-threatening valvular heart condition by providers trained only in basic ultrasound,” said lead author Dr. Hema Krishna, a cardiologist at the University of Illinois at Chicago. “This machine learning platform can potentially extend diagnostic capability to patients in rural, community, or emergency room settings without immediate access to cardiologists.”

Dr. Krishna explained that rapid identification of hemodynamically significant AS can reduce the time to receive life-saving valve replacement therapy and also prevent unnecessary morbidity and mortality.

About American Society of Echocardiography
The American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) is the Society for Cardiovascular Ultrasound Professionals™. ASE is the largest global organization for cardiovascular ultrasound imaging serving physicians, sonographers, nurses, veterinarians, and scientists and as such is the leader and advocate, setting practice standards and guidelines for the field. The Society is committed to advancing cardiovascular ultrasound to improve lives. For more information, visit ASE’s website ASEcho.org or social media pages on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Angie Porter
919-297-7152
APorter@ASEcho.org

New Research Study Uses Echocardiography to Compare Global Longitudinal Strain Values Among College Athletes Diagnosed with a COVID-19 Infection

(DURHAM, NC, June 23, 2023)—COVID-19 may no longer be a global health emergency, but the effects of the disease, which is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, are still being felt and studied. Research that will be presented at the American Society of Echocardiography’s (ASE) 34th Annual Scientific Sessions, June 23-26, 2023, in National Harbor, Md., will share how echocardiography was used to analyze left ventricular global longitudinal strain (GLS) in college athletes who experienced mild-to-moderate SARS-CoV-2 infection.

In the study, nearly 200 student athletes from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who tested positive for COVID-19 from September-March 2020, underwent a comprehensive echocardiogram to collect various data, including GLS values. GLS values can vary with age and sex, but they can be used to help predict future cardiovascular events and detect structural heart diseases.

The study found that GLS was normal in most college athletes when compared to reported normal values. However, GLS values in male football players were lower than previously reported normal values. These echocardiographic findings were supported by cardiac MRIs.

“Collecting and comparing GLS enables medical professionals to better monitor athletes for heart abnormalities associated with viral illnesses, such as COVID-19,” says the study’s lead author Dr. Parag A. Tipnis, an associate clinical professor in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “Echocardiography remains a powerful tool in the diagnosis of cardiac disease and can be complementary to other modalities, such as cardiac MRIs, to help determine when athletes or patients can return to normal activities after an illness.”

Dr. Tipnis described the research findings as hypothesis generating, and stressed the importance of further analyzing GLS values in larger patient populations.

“My research team and I believe that future studies of GLS patterns in college athletes will be important in helping detect heart issues and minimizing the risk of sudden cardiac death,” he continued.

Highlighting continuing innovations in the cardiovascular ultrasound field, nearly 400 abstract poster presentations will be featured during ASE 2023. This study, titled Comparison of Global Longitudinal Strain Among College Athletes Diagnosed with Mild to Moderate SARS-CoV-2 Infection, will be presented Saturday, June 24, 7 a.m. to 7:50 a.m. ET at the Gaylord National Harbor Resort and Convention Center. Learn more about ASE 2023 and download the conference’s final event program at ASEScientificSessions.org.

About American Society of Echocardiography
The American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) is the Society for Cardiovascular Ultrasound Professionals™. ASE is the largest global organization for cardiovascular ultrasound imaging serving physicians, sonographers, nurses, veterinarians, and scientists and as such is the leader and advocate, setting practice standards and guidelines for the field. The Society is committed to advancing cardiovascular ultrasound to improve lives. For more information, visit ASE’s website ASEcho.org or social media pages on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram.

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ASE’s ImageGuideEcho™ Registry is the nation’s first echo-specific clinical data registry. Within the Registry, your institution will have the analytical tools to: track quality improvement, conduct detailed analysis into your own data, leverage continued alignment in quality with IAC, link to outcomes data, and examine data to conduct innovative research.

Join us at ASE 2023 in National Harbor, Maryland, and stop by the ASE ImageGuideEcho Registry Booth #531 in the Echo Expo. ASE member physicians will be presenting these five information sessions:

SATURDAY, JUNE 24

Growth of the ImageGuideEcho Registry
12:00 PM – 12:30 PM
Jordan Strom, MD, MSc, FASE

Cedaron: Improving Quality of Care
1:00 PM – 1:30 PM
Malcolm Bond, PhD

The Pediatric Echo Module
2:45 PM – 3:15 PM
Dan Forsha, MD, MCS, FASE & Charitha Reddy, MD

SUNDAY, JUNE 25

The Perioperative Echo Module
10:05 AM – 10:35 AM
Alina Nicoara, MD, FASE

ASE & IAC – A Continued Alignment in Quality
12:00 PM – 12:30 PM
David H. Wiener, MD, FASE

Register today to join us at the ASE 2023 Scientific Sessions in National Harbor, Maryland, June 23-26, 2023. This premier cardiovascular ultrasound conference will address foundational concepts, evolving practice, and research in these areas and more:

• Imaging Fundamentals
• Perioperative
• Critical Care
• Circulation and Vascular
• Interventional Echocardiography
• POCUS
• Multimodality
• Innovation & Technology
• Pediatric & Congenital Heart Disease
• Myocardium
• Ischemia

Misinformation at Play? May CASE Saves the Day

The latest issue of CASE, ASE’s open access case reports journal, is now available with some captivating reports, including “Degenerative Mitral Stenosis: A Case-Based Review” by Morgan Lamberg, DO, MHSA et al. CASE Editor-in-Chief, Vincent L. Sorrell, MD, FASE, remarked, “Lamberg et al. have prepared an excellent case-based review on the ever-increasing prevalence of degenerative mitral stenosis (DMS). Although rheumatic mitral stenosis (RMS) has become less common, mitral annular calcification progressing to DMS continues to increase and unlike RMS, carries a poor prognosis with limited treatment options. The authors do an outstanding job of demonstrating the value of a multimodality imaging approach that complements 2D, 3D, and Doppler echocardiography. They also include accompanying tables and flow-diagrams to assist us in how we approach these patients and highlight the approach when DMS is combined with aortic stenosis (~25%). Using a combination of echo and computed tomographic imaging parameters, the authors provide a proposal to help standardize our grading of the severity of DMS. Although treatment options are limited, the authors leave us with some hope that newer transcatheter interventions continue to evolve and are specifically addressing this disease state.”