ASE’s newest addition to our “Best of ASE” series, Best of ASE, Volume 6: Echocardiographic Imaging of Native and Prosthetic Valves is now available. This “Best of ASE” valve lecture series includes a comprehensive overview of the latest in diagnostic evaluation and quantification of regurgitant and stenotic lesions as well as detailed discussions on the role of echocardiography in today’s surgical and catheter-based interventions. Each lecture provides multiple case studies which enable you to understand the clinical relevance and methods used for evaluation.

The topics for first five volumes of the “Best of ASE series” include:

• Introduction to Diastology
• Basics of Strain
• A Practical Guide to 3D Echocardiography
• Basic Physics of Ultrasound, Knobology, and Echocardiographic Artifacts
• Contrast Echocardiography

Visit www.ASEMarketPlace.com to purchase these individually for $75 or purchase all six for the discounted bundle price of $300.

Did you know in celebration of ASE’s 40th anniversary, ASE is holding an echo image competition? The winners will be featured in a colorful, 12-month calendar given to all members who renew by December 15, 2014.  We are looking for awesome images that show how cool echo is… 3D, Doppler, 2D, Stress, Strain, Contrast, TEE, TTE, or anything else that features cardiovascular ultrasound. A couple of reminders: no patient identifiers (dates, institutions, names) and winners are determined by popular vote. All membership levels and categories are eligible to submit. Submission is still open, but voting has begun.  The last date to vote is October 31. 

Instructions for uploading images are as follows:

1. Head to the ASE 2015 Calendar Contest Library on Connect@ASE.
2. Login to Connect@ASE using your username (email address) and password.
3. Using the top navigation, scroll to All Libraries.
4. Click on ASE 2015 Calendar Contest.
5. Click “new” under Folder Contents on the right hand side of the menu and upload your image. Image files need to be no larger than 30 MB.
6. Once you’ve uploaded your image, it will prompt you to enter a subject and a brief description.  We encourage you to do so.

To vote for your favorite echo images:

1. Browse the images uploaded in the ASE 2015 Calendar Contest Image Library.
2. Give each image a rating from 1 to 5 stars using the star rating system in the right hand corner.
3. Rate as many images as you’d like.

If you have any questions, please contact ASE at acooper@asecho.org. Start voting on your favorite images today.

The preliminary program for the 28th Annual State-of-the-Art Echocardiography is now available! This superbly rated meeting will take place in Scottsdale, AZ on February 22-24, 2015 with preconferences available on February 21. Topics will include quantitative echocardiography, valvular and ischemic heart disease, stress/contrast echocardiography, advances in imaging in coronary disease, state-of-the-art and clinical applications of TEE, diastology, physiological disease management, and myopericardial diseases. Back by popular demand, a half-day Congenital Heart Symposium will take place on Saturday, February 21 from 1pm – 5pm. To learn more about the main conference and other learning opportunities including the Learning Lab and the Maintenance of Certification (MOC) Session, please visit www.asecho.org/sota.

Join Juan Carlos Plana, MD, FASE, from the Baylor College of Medicine on Wednesday, October 29 at 5:00 pm ET as he reviews the Expert Consensus statement: “Expert Consensus for Multimodality Imaging Evaluation of Adult Patients during and after Cancer Therapy: A Report from the American Society of Echocardiography and the European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging.” During this live webinar, provided by ASE, Dr. Plana will highlight the importance of echocardiography as the imaging modality of choice during and after cancer therapy treatments. Due to the significant number of patients who have been treated with cancer therapeutic agents with cardiotoxicity and who are at risk to develop heart failure, early detection of left ventricular dysfunction is imperative. Be sure to reserve a spot early so you do not miss out on this opportunity for unique echocardiography updates and CME.

To ensure your FREE registration for this event, please follow these 3 simple steps:

1. Log on to your ASE Member Portal
2. Select “ASE University and CME Credits” from the Member Portal menu
3. Select “Live Webinars” and “Register” from the ASEUniversity Menu.

Non-members may attend this event, but a fee will be associated with this participation.

Lumason has been approved by the FDA here in the U.S.  Read more here.

ASE is now accepting recommendations for Officers and Directors who will be officially elected at the 26th Annual Scientific Sessions, June 12-16, 2015 in Boston, MA. Your nominations are invited for the position of vice president, treasurer, secretary, and five board positions. The vice president will serve a one-year term and is in a ladder position to the presidency. Guidelines for submitting nominations can be found on ASE’s nominations page. The deadline is quickly approaching. Please submit nominations by Friday, October 24, 2014. If you have any questions or to submit your nominations, please contact Mary Alice Dilday at 919-297-7188 or madilday@asecho.org.

You asked for it. We delivered! ASE is excited to announce the “ASE Guideline Reference E-Book.”  The online book offers a collection of charts and illustrations derived from ASE’s guidelines for cardiovascular ultrasound.  It comes in a convenient format for quick reference and is designed to immediately accommodate new inserts as they are published.  Seventy percent of our current Guideline Reference Book users agreed that this book is helpful and useful in their daily practices.  As one of our members recently let us know, “This ASE Reference Book is simply a cornerstone for echocardiography interpretation.” Now, being able to access the ASE Guideline Reference Book online means it is just a click away!

Login to www.ASEUniversity.org to purchase your “ASE Guideline Reference E-Book” for a yearly subscription of only $75.

The Echo Florida course is one of our most popular and combines a great mix of education and location-specific fun. You can maintain your CME and stay up-to-date in the ever-changing field of cardiovascular ultrasound by participating in this course. Course Director, Michael H. Picard, MD, FASE, has put together a program that will leave you feeling more prepared and refreshed going back to your practice. The 3rd Annual Echo Florida course will take place October 12 – 14 at Disney’s Grand Floridian at Walt Disney World, FL. To start out, a special preconference is offered on October 11 featuring point of care learning. This session gives you the opportunity for plenty of hands-on training in a small group setting; separate registration is required. Following this preconference, you’ll experience a three-day comprehensive echo course featuring expert faculty discussing strengths and limitations of established and emerging technologies and illustrating how these technologies can be used to improve and streamline patient care in a cost conscious manner. ASE listened to previous attendees’ suggestions and needs to develop Echo Florida’s new jam-packed schedule. The conference now includes:

• Coronary artery disease, including stress testing
• Valvular heart disease
• Heart failure (systolic and diastolic) and cardiomyopathy
• Emerging technologies including contrast, 3D/4D echocardiography, and strain imaging
• Complex congenital heart disease
• Case-based demonstrations on role of 2D and real time 3D/4D echocardiography to select, guide, and follow percutaneous structural heart disease interventions such as transcatheter aortic valve replacement and percutaneous mitral valve repair

Learn more and register today by visiting www.asecho.org/echoflorida or downloading the Preliminary Program.

Summer may be over, but JASE is still heating things up! The October issue is now online with its focus topic of left ventricular volumes and systolic function, and includes three articles on this subject. “Assessment of Left Ventricular Volumes with Echocardiography and Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging: Real-Life Evaluation of Standard versus New Semiautomatic Methods,” “Diagnostic Value of Three-Dimensional Contrast-Enhanced Echocardiography for Left Ventricular Volume and Ejection Fraction Measurement in Patients with Poor Acoustic Windows: A Comparison of Echocardiography and Magnetic Resonance Imaging,” and “Three-Dimensional Principal Strain Analysis for Characterizing Subclinical Changes in Left Ventricular Function.” Zoran B. Popovic, MD, PhD, and James D. Thomas, MD, FASE, have provided editorial comment on the strain article in their piece, “Toward Understanding the Interaction between Structure and Function: An Echocardiographic Story.”