Early Registration Ends January 16

Register by January 16 to receive the best price to attend ASE’s 36^th Annual State-of-the-Art Echocardiography (SOTA)! Taking place in sunny Scottsdale, Arizona, SOTA’s 2024 program follows the themes of structural heart disease, myocardial and pericardial disease, coronary artery disease, and interventional echocardiography.

NEW in 2024!

• Expanded Learning Lab: New topics include advanced hemodynamics, myocardial strain, and structural heart disease. Participants will perform 3D cropping, measurements such as left ventricular and right ventricular strain, left atrial strain, critical measurements for TAVR, TMVR, TEER, and left atrial appendage occluder. (A separate registration and additional fee is required.)
• Case-based Learning: The course will include a special focus on hemodynamics, structural heart disease, interventional echocardiography, 3D echocardiography, strain imaging, and advanced diastolic function.
• More opportunities to directly interact with faculty during and after the meeting.
• Glimpse of the Future: Learn about the impact of artificial intelligence and machine learning in the field of echocardiography.

Register for the conference first, and then don’t forget to book your hotel reservation.

Submit an Application by February 12

Along with Course Directors and Chairs, Course Co-Directors and Co-Chairs are instrumental in the implementation and success of live and virtual courses. All applications for available positions can be submitted now through February 12. The ASE Education Committee will review applications and make recommendations to the ASE Executive Committee, who will make the final selection.

ASE Course Co-Director Application

It is current policy that the Co-Director becomes the Course Director after two years and will then serve as the Course Director for two years. The application process for Course Co-Director beginning in 2026 and serving through 2027 is now open for the following ASE courses:

• Echo Hawaii
• State-of-the-Art Echocardiography
• Review Course Virtual Experience
• Echo Florida

ASE Virtual Co-Chair Application

It is current policy that the Co-Chair becomes the Course Chair after one year, and then will serve as the Course Chair for one year. The application process applies to the following ASE virtual Courses:

• Advanced Imaging Techniques Virtual Experience
• Echo in Pediatric & Congenital Heart Disease

Registration for the 2024 ASCeXAM Review Course is now open! This virtual course is specifically designed to help you gain the knowledge you need to pass the ASCeXAM exam administered by the National Board of Echocardiography, Inc (NBE). NOTE: In 2024, NBE is launching a new longitudinal learning assessment, Maintenance of Certification in Echocardiography (MOCE), which will replace its 10-year recertification process (ReASCE). Candidates who pass any initial examination(s) this year will maintain their Diplomate status annually through MOCE the year after passing their examination(s). Learn more about NBE’s MOCE here.

You can register for ASE’s Review Course now. Then, registrants will receive online access to all course content beginning Monday, May 6, 2024. This course offers comprehensive echocardiography education that includes 28.75 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. As an ASE member, you receive reduced registration rates. Log in to your Member Portal before registering in the ASE Learning Hub. 

The January issue of JASE includes, “Guidelines for the Evaluation of Prosthetic Valve Function With Cardiovascular Imaging: A Report From the American Society of Echocardiography Developed in Collaboration With the Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance and the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography.” Author William A. Zoghbi, MD, FASE, remarks, “This new guideline on prosthetic valves is very much needed, as the field has changed so much since 2009, with the introduction of percutaneous valves and improvements in 3D echocardiography and multimodality imaging. The guideline is comprehensive and provides a pragmatic approach to the evaluation of prosthetic valve function with echocardiography and details the role of advanced imaging with cardiac CT and MRI.”

Additionally, this issue contains a clinical investigation evaluating the relationship of ventricular strain pattern and the need for a pacemaker after aortic valve replacement, and another assessing resting LV strain and ischemia on stress echo. A preclinical investigation assesses the impact of atherosclerotic risk factors on therapeutic cavitation. Readers can look forward to a state-of-the-art review on the pathophysiology and clinical utility of strain assessment in aortic stenosis. Three brief research communications include reports on gaps in contemporary echo reporting quality for mechanisms of mitral regurgitation, variations in interventional echo radiation exposure based on procedure type and modality, and the effectiveness of audio output from an AI method for layperson recognition of pulmonary edema or COVID lung infection on ultrasound images. One correspondence on TEE imaging approaches for identifying mitral valve anatomy is also included.

Dr. Pellikka’s editorial reflects on the hard work contributed by the entire JASE team and lists the top reviewers and guest editors of the journal in 2023. Dr. Eidem’s President’s Message features an update from the respective editors of each of ASE’s three flagship journals: Echo Magazine, CASE, and JASE, which all issue new content each month. Please see the January ASE Education Calendar for a listing of educational opportunities far and wide.

Sonography students enrolled in an accredited CAAHEP cardiovascular ultrasound program have three days left to apply for the 2024 Feigenbaum Cardiovascular Student Travel Grant. Supported by a grant to the ASE Foundation from Elsevier, Inc. to honor Dr. Harvey Feigenbaum’s commitment and tenure as the Founding Editor of JASE, this grant provides a $1,000 USD travel grant to assist the recipient in attending ASE’s Annual Scientific Sessions or another ASE-sponsored 2024 educational program. Full nomination criteria can be found here. Applications are due December 30.



Sonography students nominated for a 2024 Alan D. Waggoner, MHS, RDCS, FASE Sonographer Student Scholarship Award have until December 30 to complete the Student Nominee Application Form. Contact the Foundation with any questions at Foundation@ASEcho.org. 

If you’ve already renewed your ASE membership for 2024, thank you! Not yet renewed? Your active status will expire on December 31, 2023. Avoid a lapse in your membership and renew today!

1. Renew online in your ASE Member Portal.
2. Request a renewal link by email to renew online (ASE@ASEcho.org).
3. Call the ASE Membership Department directly at 919-861-5574 (Press 1 for the Membership Department). NOTE: ASE Headquarters is closed December 29.

Thank you for choosing to be a member of ASE, and we look forward to continuing to serve you in 2024!

The end of the year is only days away, which means the opportunity to contribute to the ASE Foundation’s 2023 Annual Appeal is almost over. While we are ecstatic to say that as of December 25, we have reached our $200,000 goal having raised $233,164—we are not stopping there! You can still support the Foundation and directly impact next year’s work with a donation by December 31.

Every dollar donated to the ASE Foundation will be used towards charitable projects in 2024. Projects like, student scholarships, global health outreach events, and research, to name a few. If supporting initiatives like these are important to you, you still have the chance to join the more than 1,600 people who have already donated this year.

Remember the deadline! The last day to contribute to the ASE Foundation’s 2023 Annual Appeal is December 31. Thank you for your support—you are what makes us successful!

The December 2023 Echo magazine is now online! This issue contains interesting articles written by ASE members, including:

• The American Society of Echocardiography Foundation (ASEF): Foundation for the Future of Cardiovascular Ultrasound, page 4
• Sonographer Volunteer of the Month-December, Congratulations Jeff Hill, MSc, ACS, FASE, page 8
• A Journey through Interventional Echocardiography, page 10
• Sonographer Career Pathways to FASE: How Can FASE Help Achieve Career Goals and Open Opportunities?, page 12
• Challenges of Patient Management in a Hybrid Operating Room, page 15
• OMG! How Did ASE Get its Fabulous Staff?, page 19
• ASE Foundation Global Health Outreach Event to Vietnam 2023, page 24
• Highlights from ASE’s Multimodality Imaging for Cardiac Surveillance of Cancer Treatment in Children Guideline, page 28

Each monthly issue includes articles or images related to cardiovascular ultrasound that are not research-related, as well as communications from the ASE President, Councils, Specialty Interest Groups, and the ASE education calendar. All active ASE members are eligible to submit articles to the Echo magazine. The submission deadline for the March 2024 issue is January 15. Email Echo@ASEcho.org with questions.