The ASE Foundation is welcoming the first day of Spring by holding its third annual Spring Giving Day on Tuesday, March 20th! Mark your calendars and plan to join us as we spring into action for this year’s Annual Appeal with a goal to raise $5,000 in 24 hours. Every gift – $15, $25, $50, or any amount that is right for you – brings us closer to our target. Help us make this our most successful Spring Giving Day yet!

Your gift on Spring Giving Day will foster the future of echocardiography by supporting scholarships and travel grants to young professionals in the field. Each and every gift you give to the ASE Foundation makes a difference in the projects you support and the people you help. 100% of all giving is allocated to charitable projects. Learn more here.

Join Thomas R. Porter, MD, FASE, on Thursday, April 19 at 1:00 PM Eastern Time, for an interactive live webinar as he reviews Clinical Applications of Ultrasonic Enhancing Agents in Echocardiography: 2018 ASE Guidelines Update. As ASE’s chair to the guideline writing group, Dr. Porter will discuss several important developments and recommendations for the use of ultrasound enhancing agents (UEAs also known as contrast) and how it has become an integral part of echocardiography practice in various clinical settings. Earn 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ for attending this live webinar event. Registration is free for ASE members. Register online today!

These award recipients will be honored at the ASE Foundation’s 9th Annual Research Awards Gala, Sunday, June 24, 2018, at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, TN, during this year’s Scientific Sessions. Click here for the Gala online registration. Gala tickets will not be available for sale on-site.  Questions about the Gala? Please email gala@asecho.org.

Excellence in Teaching in Pediatrics
Meryl S. Cohen, MD, FASE, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA

Meritorious Service Award
Sherif F. Nagueh, MD, FASE, Houston Methodist DeBakey Cardiology Associates, Houston, TX

Outstanding Achievement in Perioperative Echocardiography Award
Jonathan B. Mark, MD, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC

Physician Lifetime Achievement Award
Navin C. Nanda, MD, FASE, University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL

Richard Popp Excellence in Teaching Award
Theodore Abraham, MD, FASE, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA

Cardiovascular Sonographer Distinguished Teacher Award
Priscilla Peters, BA, RDCS, FASE, Cooper University Hospital, Camden,  NJ

Imaging experts from the American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) today released a paper, Clinical Applications of Ultrasonic Enhancing Agents in Echocardiography: 2018 American Society of Echocardiography Guidelines Update, to provide guidance for clinicians on the expanding utility of ultrasound enhancing agents (UEAs), also known as contrast media, in medical imaging. This new guideline aims to update the previous 2008 consensus document, and encourage the appropriate use of UEAs in patient testing, particularly in new and growing areas of cardiovascular care. Read more here.

Durham, NC, February 26, 2018 – The American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) and its International Alliance Partners are joining efforts in the World Alliance of Societies of Echocardiography (WASE) Normal Values Study. This study is bringing together the scientific cardiovascular ultrasound community from around the world to better understand if the current recommended normal values for heart dimensions and function in subjects from different races and countries are similar or different. In addition, normal values for novel echocardiography modalities such as 3D and strain will be established. Read more here.

CASE, ASE’s bimonthly, online case reports journal, has just entered its second year of publication with the February issue that is now online. This journal has gotten strong support from the community and is attracting a growing readership.

As the Editors-in-Chief share in their editorial, “A team is made up of many individuals all looking at the same scenario from different vantage points, and this is best accomplished with many eyes. Together we are stronger.” This issue of CASE is focused on the importance of a team when addressing the mitral valve including, “Percutaneous Repair of Severe Eccentric Mitral Regurgitation Due to Medial Commissural Flail: Challenges for Imaging and Intervention,” from Drs. Eleonora Avenatti, Marija Vukicevic, Kinan C. El-Tallawi, Colin M. Marker, and Stephen H. Little.  Mitral Mysteries, Cath Lab Conundrums, One Trunk or Two? Unusual Anatomy, and Spontaneous Echo Contrast round out the Table of Contents. Read the latest issue here.

Congratulations to Myo Lwin, MBBS, and Christian Hamilton-Craig, MBBS, PhD, BMedSci(Hons), FRACP, FCSANZ, FSCCT, and FACC, from the Prince Charles Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, for supplying the What is This Image? quiz on the CASE homepage.

This educational opportunity should not be missed! Plan now to attend the 3rd Annual Echo ASE ASEAN at the Conrad Hotel in Manila, Philippines, March 22-24, 2018. Register before tomorrow, February 22 and save $100 on registration fees. If you are relatively early in your echo education or want to focus on acquisition techniques, Echo ASE ASEAN will have dedicated sessions in the afternoons on the basics of echocardiography. Paralleling these sessions will be more advanced topics, including 3D and strain, which are growing rapidly in our practice. In the mornings, the expert faculty group will convene, covering a host of clinical echo topics with a strong case-based emphasis. Download the Advance Program here. You will also be able to learn from original research. The course co-chairs selected great abstracts and unique case reports that will be on display throughout the meeting.

Visit ASEcho.org/ASEAN and register today. Reserving a hotel room at the beautiful course location is also a must. ASE has secured a special discounted rate at the hotel for meeting attendees. The hotel is selling out quickly, so don’t delay making your reservation! Please contact the hotel directly at +63-2-8339999 and specify that you are with “American Society of Echocardiography ASEAN Meeting.” Or, you may make your reservations online.

All four ASE Council Steering Committees (Pediatric and Congenital Heart Disease, Perioperative Echocardiography, Vascular Ultrasound, and Cardiovascular Sonography) are now accepting applications/nominations for open positions through March 16, 2018. Please contact Natalya Read at nread@asecho.org for additional information.

ASE Headquarters will be closed Monday, February 19 in observance of President’s Day. Normal business hours will resume on Tuesday, February 20.