Chance to Win a $100 VISA Gift Card

In addition to supporting ASE’s mission of improving the practice of cardiovascular ultrasound for better patient outcomes, the ASE Trends Survey enables you to share your input on important issues about the ever-changing healthcare environment in the field of cardiovascular ultrasound. ASE values your input!

The survey covers topics including practice management, general equipment and workflow issues, specialized areas of practice, and new and emerging technologies and applications. The survey will be open until February 28. Please provide your name and email at the end of the survey to be entered into a drawing for the chance to win one of two $100 VISA gift cards.

We encourage you to share the survey link with other professionals in the echo community and post it on any non-ASE medical forums. The more who participate in the survey, the better—but remember—only ASE members receive the results! 

The February JASE includes, “Echocardiography Provides a Reliable Estimate of Total Cardiac Volume for Pediatric Heart Transplantation,” from Dr. Nicholas A. Szugye et al. Dr. Szugye said that, “Pediatric patients awaiting heart transplant face high mortality rates and donor organ utilization is suboptimal. Size matching donor and recipient using echocardiographic total cardiac volume is a scalable and precise method that can enable more heart transplants in a vulnerable population.”

Dr. Patricia A. Pellikka, JASE Editor-in-Chief, writes in her editorial, “The Left Atrium Makes Headlines,” that “the associations of LA enlargement with chronic diastolic dysfunction and increased mortality in various cardiac conditions have long been recognized. However, the LA’s active and complex relationship with total cardiac performance has only more recently become appreciated. This issue of JASE includes four important papers on LA remodeling and mechanics.”

In addition, other clinical investigations explore risk stratification by echo in pulmonary hypertension, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and strain, ultrasound enhancing agents in sickle cell disease, carotid plaque imaging and coronary artery disease, and pediatric and fetal echocardiography. A state-of-the-art review, which is the CME article for February from Dr. Jia Tao et al., looks at the role of the submitral apparatus in hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy. An invited commentary with lead author Dr. Vincent L. Sorrell addresses “Recognized and Unrecognized Value of Echocardiography in Guideline and Consensus Documents Regarding Patients With Chest Pain.” Several Brief Research Communications round out the issue.

The President’s Message, “The ASEF: Together, We Can Make a World of Difference,” from Stephen H. Little, MD, FASE, is co-authored with James N. Kirkpatrick, MD, FASE, the current chair of the ASE Foundation (ASEF). The authors note that the title encapsulates the mission of the ASEF, which aims to be the driving force for improving health for all through the use of cardiovascular ultrasound. The continuing education and meeting calendar outlines a multitude of learning options near and far.

Cardiac point-of-care ultrasound has the potential to improve patient care, but its application to children requires consideration of anatomic and physiologic differences from adult populations, and corresponding technical aspects of performance. This new guideline, Recommendations for Cardiac Point-of-Care Ultrasound in Children, is the product of an American Society of Echocardiography task force composed of representatives from pediatric cardiology, pediatric critical care medicine, pediatric emergency medicine, pediatric anesthesiology, and others, assembled to provide expert guidance.

This diverse group aimed to identify common considerations across disciplines to guide evolution of indications, and to identify common requirements and infrastructure necessary for optimal performance, training, and quality assurance in the practice of cardiac point-of-care ultrasound in children. The recommendations presented are intended to facilitate collaboration among subspecialties and with pediatric echocardiography laboratories by identifying key considerations regarding (1) indications, (2) imaging recommendations, (3) training and competency assessment, and (4) quality assurance. Read more here.