The American Society of Echocardiography currently has four Councils, one of which is the Council on Vascular Ultrasound. Founded in 2007, our Council is dedicated to representing and advancing the quality of vascular ultrasound.
As the incoming Chair of the ASE Vascular Council, I welcome you to take a look at our quiet corner because things are changing fast!
In line with ASE’s strategic goals of attracting all users of cardiovascular ultrasound, we are now moving beyond the traditional topic areas focussing on specialized vascular Duplex imaging to take on a broader, global approach demonstrating how vascular imaging supports excellence in comprehensive cardiovascular care. To fully understand your patient’s heart, you must understand the vessels that direct this organ’s supply and demand.
This year’s Vascular Tract at the ASE Annual Scientific Sessions is a reflection of this new, ambitious voyage upon which our Council has embarked.
Our Keynote Session this year will focus on the role vascular imaging can play in preparation for the coming storm of atherosclerosis disease burden which threatens to overwhelm our healthcare system. Entitled “The Coming Tsunami: Ultrasound for the Assessment of Atherosclerosis,” the session will be co-chaired by Dr. Valentin Fuster, and feature his work on peripheral vascular atherosclerosis assessment. This special combined Imaging Essentials session will occur in the main symposia area and also feature Dr. Vijay Nambi, an ARIC study investigator, and Dr. Sharon Mulvagh, an expert in contrast vascular imaging (Saturday, June 3rd, 1:00-2:30 pm).
Another very important session for the practicing cardiologist, sonographer, and vascular expert will be the session entitled “From Bow to Stern: Imaging the Aorta and Branch Vessels.” This session will focus on Aorta pathology and ask you not to forget to obtain high-quality views from the suprasternal notch. Can you identify the vessels and pathology from this view? If your answer is not confident, then we will teach you Monday morning (June 5 th , 7:00-7:50 am). This will be followed by our main advanced vascular imaging session “Ride the Wave: Advanced Vascular Imaging” where our outgoing Chair, Dr. Esther Kim, will address current advances in vascular imaging and the Council progress (June 5 th , 8:00 am).
New for this year, in collaboration with the Council on Cardiovascular Sonography, we are offering two hands-on workshops on Friday afternoon to kick off the Scientific Sessions. “All Hands on Deck: Carotid and Peripheral Imaging for atherosclerosis” will be a special hands-on workshop with multiple machines and stations available for you to learn and practice carotid plaque assessment and CIMT assessment, as well as Ankle Brachial Index Assessment . The goal of this workshop is to demonstrate how easy it is to incorporate important vascular assessment into comprehensive cardiovascular care of your patient (June 2 nd , 1:00-2:30 pm). Shortly after this workshop, we will offer, for the first time, an ergonomics workshop for both cardiac imagers and vascular imagers. The Echovascular Ergonomics Workshop is open to all, not only sonographers but also point of care ultrasound users, and will feature experts assessing your posture and form, and offering corrections to avoid injury (June 2 nd , 3:00-5:00 pm).
The Vascular Council has put together an ambitious, novel tract as we look to fulfill the expanding needs of our members and work to attract new cardiovascular ultrasound users. Baltimore, rich with nautical history ( Figure 1 ), is the ideal port from which we can embark on this new, exciting journey. We welcome you to set sail with us June 2-5 at the Scientific Sessions Vascular Tract.
Amer Johri, MD, FASE is Chair Elect of ASE’s Council on Vascular Ultrasound Steering Committee and has also served on a number of ASE committees. He pioneered a novel method to quantify carotid artery plaque by 3D ultrasound. He is a clinician scientist at Queen’s University and is editor of the POCUS Journal. Follow him on twitter at @amerjohri .
