Basics of Bubbles: What Every Clinician Should Know:
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About:
This educational program provides key information for both early users and established users of ultrasound enhancing agents and is intended to promote the adoption and appropriate use of contrast in echocardiography more broadly. The content of the lectures has been carefully selected by top experts in the field to provide valuable information regarding the contrast agents available, the methods used to detect them, policies and procedures necessary for integration of contrast echocardiography, appropriate indications for contrast using case-based approaches, and advanced uses such as perfusion imaging. The use of physician-sonographer teams in the live program is intended to stress the need for team-based implantation of contrast policies and procedures.
The duration of each of the lectures (20-25 min) has been intentionally designed to provide key information in a succinct fashion. We are confident that this program will be valued for both the quality of its didactic content and the “personal touch” of live webinars that allows individuals to have their questions addressed.
This course offers 6 AMA PRA Category 1 CreditsTM.
Course/Activity Information
Ultrasound contrast agents, also known as ultrasound enhancing agents, are composed of acoustically active microbubbles. These agents undergo cavitation in an acoustic field, thereby producing strong ultrasound signals that can be detected by unique contrast-specific imaging algorithms available on most ultrasound systems. Ultrasound contrast agents are used to enhance the blood pool, thereby improving patient care by: (1) improving accuracy for left ventricular (LV) volume and function assessment, (2) improving accuracy for detecting regional wall motion at rest and during stress, (3) increasing the ability to detect and characterize thrombi and other masses, and (4) improving accuracy for conditions that influence LV geometry (pseudoaneurysm, non-compaction cardiomyopathy, apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy).
Authors: Jonathan R. Lindner, MD, FASE; Sharon L. Mulvagh, MD, FASE, FRCP(C); Thomas R. Porter, MD, FASE; Rajesh Janardhanan, MD, MRCP, FACC, FASE; Howard Leong-Poi, MD, FASE; Margaret M. Park, BS, ACS, RDCS, RVT, FASE, FSDMS; G. Monet Strachan, ACS, RDCS, FASE.
Release Date: January 18, 2019
CME End Date: January 18, 2022
CME Credit: 6.0
Speaker Disclosure: Jonathan R. Lindner, MD, FASE – Investigator-initiated Grants from GE Healthcare, Lantheus, Pfizer, and Bracco; Sharon L. Mulvagh, MD, FASE, FRCP(C) – GE Healthcare (Research Grants), Lantheus Medical Imaging (Consulting), Bracco Diagnostics (Consulting); Thomas R. Porter, MD, FASE – Bracco Diagnostics (Speakers Bureau), Philips Healthcare (Equipment Support); Howard Leong-Poi, MD, FASE – Lantheus Medical Imaging (Speakers Bureau), Bracco (Clinical Trials); Margaret Park, BS, ACS, RDCS, RVT, FASE – Lantheus Medical Imaging (Speakers Bureau), Lantheus Medical Imaging (Speakers Bureau Advisory Board), Previous faculty and speaker for Northwest Imaging Forums (Sponsored by Bracco); Rajesh Janardhanan, MD, MRCP, FACC, FASE – Lantheus Medial Imaging (Speakers Bureau); G. Monet Strachan, ACS, RDCS, FASE – Lantheus (Speakers Bureau).
Commercial Support: This program was made possible by the funding of an unrestricted educational grant from GE Healthcare, Pharmaceutical Diagnostics.
Activities Included:
- The Contrast Basics: Contrast Agents and the Ultrasound Approaches to Detecting Them
- The Sonographers Checklist for Successful Adoption of Contrast in the Echo Lab
- LVO At Rest – What You Don’t See Can Hurt You
- The Impact of Contrast for Assessment of CAD
- Policies, Practice, and Training for Contrast Echocardiography
- Future of Contrast: Perfusion Imaging, Molecular Imaging, Therapy
- Evaluation