Benjamin Eidem, MD, Council Chair

Luc Mertens, MD, PhD, Chair of 2013 Pediatric and Congenital Heart Disease Track

The Pediatric & Congenital Heart Disease track planned for Minneapolis is truly a “can’t miss” event for anyone with an interest in congenital heart disease, we wanted to highlight the upcoming program in our quarterly council communication.

This year’s program begins on Saturday with what has become one of the most well-attended and informative sessions: Echocardiographic—Pathologic—Surgical Correlations in Congenital Heart Disease . This full-day program includes excellent talks from renowned echocardiographers, cardiac pathologists, and cardiovascular surgeons that are applicable to congenital and adult sonographers and physicians alike. Topics this year include atrial septal defects, functionally single ventricles, and double outlet right ventricle. Following these sessions, the day concludes with another favorite: Pediatric Echo Jeopardy . This year’s event will have teams from the U.S. competing with Team Canada and Team Europe. Echo Jeopardy an informative and highly entertaining game each year, and this year’s program will be no exception.

Sunday’s congenital sessions highlight new technologies in pediatric imaging. A joint ASE/EAE session will discuss emerging imaging technologies including 3D strain, flow particle velocity imaging, high resolution vascular ultrasound, and high frequency 3D echocardiography. A focus will be on taking these novel imaging technologies from the research bench to the bedside. Topics include strain imaging for ventricular functional assessment in daily practice, 3D imaging to assess atrioventricular valve regurgitation in the operating room, and the assessment of mechanical dyssynchrony in pediatric patients. A case based session on Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome concludes the day. This interactive session will involve cases from stage 1 through stage 3 surgical palliation of HLHS, with speakers from six high volume institutions sharing their expertise.

Monday’s congenital track includes a combined adult and pediatric session on the assessment of diastolic function. Talks addressing the grading of diastolic dysfunction and the assessment of filling pressures will be discussed, as well as a comparison of the adult and pediatric paradigms used to assess the diastolic properties of the left ventricle. The use of imaging to assess patients with a failing Fontan circulation is also a very important session. Lectures include the non-invasive assessment of the pulmonary circulation pathways, evaluation of the enteric circulation in patients with protein losing enteropathy, and how to quantitatively assess the systolic and diastolic function of the single ventricle. Fetal echocardiography is always a favorite at the Scientific Sessions, and this year’s congenital track will highlight fetal hyperoxia. Talks include coverage of the methodology and physiology of hyperoxia and also the use of non-invasive imaging to assess the fetal response to this therapy. A case based session on the use of echocardiography in clinical decision making is also planned. We’ll end the day on Monday with another crowd favorite: the Fireside Chat, a highly interactive and entertaining interview with one of the luminaries of pediatric echocardiography. Begun in 2009, previous esteemed interviewees have included Roberta Williams, Richard Van Praagh, Abraham Rudolph and Norman Silverman. This year’s honoree is another giant in our field—Jeff Smallhorn. Jeff will be interviewed by Luc Mertens in what is sure to be an amazing concluding session for the day and truly a “can’t miss” event.

A ticketed breakfast begins the final day of the scientific sessions. This breakfast session, entitled How to Run an Efficient Pediatric Echo Lab , will address resource utilization within the pediatric echo lab, including issues related to work flow, equipment and personnel. Oral abstract presentations are a consistent feature of the pediatric sessions and will follow this breakfast session. Completing the congenital program will be another favorite session: Controversies in Pediatric Echocardiography . There will be 3 spirited controversies covered this year: (1) Point of care echocardiography should be practiced in the pediatric emergency room; (2) All measurements of cardiac dimensions should use 2D and not m-mode imaging; and (3) 3D echocardiography can replace cardiac MRI for measurement of RV volumes.

In conclusion, the 2013 Pediatric and Congenital Heart Disease track at the 24 ^th Annual ASE Scientific sessions will be a highly informative, educational, and entertaining event. We look forward to seeing everyone in Minneapolis this summer!