The latest issue of CASE is now available with intriguing reports, including “Transesophageal Echocardiographic Planning and Neo–Left Ventricular Outflow Tract Assessment for Transcatheter Mitral Valve Implantation Using Novel Software” by Bartkowiak et. al. Author Joanna Bartkowiak, MD, remarked, “Patients with severe, symptomatic degenerative mitral stenosis who may be candidates for transcatheter mitral valve replacement, require pre-procedural imaging to assess appropriate valve size and risk of left ventricular outflow tract obstruction (LVOTO). A novel postprocessing TEE software facilitates assessment of LVOTO risk, which may be particularly helpful in patients with urgent need for transcatheter MV implantation and contraindication for contrast-enhanced computed tomography.”

In addition to that report on the remarkable advances in TEE guidance of transcatheter mitral valve implantation, this issue presents a second case in the Echo Innovation category, serving up a striking GLS bullseye display in a patient with an apical-variant hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Cases in the Congenital Heart Disease account for the valuable role of echo in a patient with partial Shone complex, as well as the various complications that can arise with a cor triatriatum dexter finding. Rare But Deadly Findings presents a case of ventricular septal rupture in a patient who experienced a motor vehicle accident, while this issue concludes with a report in Veterinary Clinical Cardiovascular Medicine demonstrating a Gerbode defect with echo/Doppler in a dog that suffered thoracic trauma. Read up on Dr. Sorrell’s editorial to review spatial, temporal, and contrast resolution as they relate to multimodality cardiovascular (CV) imaging and reasons to perform one test over another.

Looking for a journal to submit your case report to? We want to hear from you! Email us with questions or submit your report today.

ASE’s mission in advocacy is to represent the interests of our members, while advocating to create an environment for excellence in the quality and practice of cardiovascular ultrasound. ASE’s role as the voice of echocardiography on Capitol Hill, to federal agencies, and among private payers, is unquestionably of great, and ever-increasing, importance.

Your ASE membership allows you access to the following Advocacy tools in your ASE Member Portal:

• Ask a Coding Expert – Get help with common coding and reimbursement issues with an easy online submission form and FAQs.
• Coding and Reimbursement Information – Annual coding and reimbursement newsletter and updates, including webinars to make sure you are up-to-date on billing information. 
• Health Policy Briefing Newsletter – Each Monday, ASE provides the Health Policy Briefing Newsletter with the latest information on new developments in Washington D.C. that includes all recently introduced bills, scheduled hearings, and proposed legislation and regulatory actions.
• Advocacy Alerts and Action Center – ASE members are alerted when legislative or regulatory issues threaten their practices, and they are sent information about how to help protect our profession. 

Learn more by logging in to your Member Portal, and clicking the Advocacy tab.

This time of year, taxes and finances are top of mind for many individuals. As a benefit of membership, ASE members at all stages of their career have access to a financial literacy awareness program through the ASE Learning Hub. Now, or anytime, is a great time to plan for your financial future!

ASE partnered with JFS Wealth Advisors to offer the following:

• Financial information for all stages of your career
• Articles, videos, and blogs on a variety of financial topics
• Access to planning experts, and more!

There is less than one month left to take advantage of early registration rates to attend ASE’s 35th Annual Scientific Sessions, June 14-16, in Portland, Oregon. Register for ASE 2024 by Wednesday, May 8, to save up to $225!

This year’s new format includes short cases with panel discussions, more audience participation, and an interactive focus with less didactic presentations. There are also lots of activities allowing you to network with your peers. Download the Schedule at a Glance offering an overview of the events taking place during the conference and start planning the sessions you want to attend.

Now is the time to also reserve your hotel room. The conference has a new hotel directly across from the convention center and hotels connected by ASE shuttles from downtown. Learn more about discounted hotel accommodations and visiting Portland. 

The April issue of JASE includes, “Temporal Trends in Right Ventricular to Pulmonary Artery Coupling in Patients Undergoing Transcatheter Mitral Valve-in-Valve Replacement for Degenerated Mitral Bioprostheses.” Author Akhil Narang, MD, FASE, remarks, “Transcatheter Mitral Valve-in-Valve Implantation (TMViV) offers a safe and minimally invasive alternative for patients at high surgical risk with degenerated mitral valve prostheses. Our research group observed significant improvements in right ventricular to pulmonary artery (RV-PA) coupling indices one month after the procedure in a large single-center cohort. These findings suggest that echocardiographic-derived RV-PA coupling parameters could serve as valuable markers for monitoring outcomes following TMViV implantation in future studies.”

This issue includes various clinical investigations on diastolic exercise echo and outcome, tricuspid valve imaging in edge-to-edge repair, quantitation of mitral regurgitation with 3D echo, TEE during cardioversion, stress Doppler coronary flow velocity reserve, and fetal Doppler echo. Readers can also look forward to an imaging strategies report on the multimodality imaging approach for planning and guiding direct transcatheter tricuspid valve annuloplasty. Two editorials and five brief research communications round out this issue.

Dr. Pellikka’s editorial acknowledges the hard work and diversity of the JASE reviewer team while Dr. Eidem’s President’s Message recognizes all ASE staff with a “fun fact” to introduce readers to those helping to fulfill the strategic mission of the Society each day.

Be sure to check out April’s Author Spotlight to learn more from lead authors Christina L. Luong, MHSc, FASE and Garvan C. Kane, MD, PhD, FASE, as they discuss their recent paper, Prognostic Significance of Elevated Left Ventricular Filling Pressures with Exercise: Insights from a Cohort of 14,338 Patients.

Please see the April ASE Education Calendar for a listing of educational opportunities far and wide.

The ASE Foundation would like to thank the donors who supported the Spring Giving fundraiser last week. $1,550 was raised towards ASEF’s travel grants and scholarships initiative. Your generosity empowers the Foundation to continue supporting the future of the profession. Thank you for helping the next generation of cardiovascular ultrasound professionals bloom and for kick-starting the Foundation’s 2024 Annual Appeal.

Register now for ASE’s virtual 2024 ASCeXAM Review Course, which 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). ASE offers three registration options: 

1. Physician Registration
2. Fellow/Allied Health Registration
3. International Registration

Starting Monday, May 6, registrants will receive online access to all course content including, pre-recorded presentations, PDF slides, and voice recordings. This course is updated each year and contains new presentations.

Registration also includes a live component on Saturday, June 22, where course faculty will host two, two-hour question and answer sessions. The 2024 Review Course offers comprehensive echocardiography education that includes 28.75 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. As a benefit of your ASE membership, you receive reduced registration rates. Log in to your Member Portal before registering in the ASE Learning Hub. 

The PCHD Microlessons is ASE’s newest online course on pediatric and congenital heart disease. The complete educational course will consist of a collection of Modules—each containing lectures, animated videos, questions, and case discussions on 10 original PCHD topics. Modules will be released quarterly throughout the year, and Module 1, which includes the topics below, is available now in the ASE Learning Hub:

• Fundamentals of Pediatric Echocardiography
• Imaging of D-Transportation of the Great Arteries (D-TGA)

The PCHD Microlessons are short web-based, micro-learning activities offering a quick and easy way to access targeted learning sessions. This module series was the brain child of the late Dr. Greg Tatum, a spectacular pediatric educator.

Course content is intended for all levels of learners but is primarily designed for sonography students, fellows-in-training, and early-career sonographers. Additionally, more advanced material is also available for early- and mid-career physicians and sonographers. Earn 3.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ for completing Module 1. Remember to log in to the ASE Member Portal before purchasing to receive your member discount!

The latest issue of CASE is now available with intriguing reports, including “Mitral Regurgitation due to Entrapment of Cut Mitral Chordal Apparatus in a Bileaflet Disk Prosthesis” by Bansal & Rabkin. Editor-In-Chief Vincent L. Sorrell, MD, FASE, remarked, “The authors take the readers on a clinical tour of a 38-year-old man with endocarditis that will have many aspects similar to patients we see weekly in our hospitals. Transferred from another hospital to receive a higher level of care, the patient developed severe MR and heart failure requiring urgent valve surgery. Repair was not feasible, and the patient received a typical bileaflet mechanical mitral valve replacement (MVR). However, after coming off bypass circulation, the intraoperative TEE demonstrated severe MR of the brand-new MVR. The authors do a spectacular job of walking the readers through their discovery of this patient’s pathology – entrapment of some components of the subvalvular apparatus between the MVR housing and disk. Then, they further educate readers by providing a schematic representation of how to assess for valvular and paravalvular regurgitation after MVR. Their report includes 2D and 3D TEE examples as well as drawings and photographs to drive their messaging. I’m sure you will enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed helping prepare this for CASE.”

This issue presents two additional cases in the Valvular Heart Disease category, including a rare instance of a mitral valve-in-valve-in-valve procedure, and a report with a series of characteristic images of a disease that uniquely impacts the pulmonic and tricuspid valves. Authors in a Multimodality Imaging case submit a varied imaging approach to diagnose biventricular endomyocardial fibrosis complicated by coexisting chronic myeloid leukemia. Finally, a report for Veterinary Clinical Cardiovascular Medicine uses TTE, radiology, gross and histo-pathology to reveal the correlation between diagnostic imaging and pathology in a dog living with severe pulmonary hypertension. Dr. Sorrell’s editorial encourages readers to share their own echo insights through their social media platforms, as these platforms can serve as a valuable educational tool to teachers and learners alike.

Looking for a journal to submit your case report to? We want to hear from you! Email us with questions or submit your report today.