We recently received a question from one of our readers regarding grading MR severity with echo. The question was, “Are any labs still using stage I-IV for grading mitral regurgitation? I still see some reports using this grading system. Is there a recommendation from ASE?”
This week, in our spotlight article, we featured one of our 2018 Mentor Award winners, Dr. Ahmed Said Saad. One of the reasons Dr. Said was noiminated is for his educational Facebook Group that includes an echo case study atlas! In addition, interesting case studies are uploaded regularily.
Do you consider yourself naturally curious? If so, this article is definitely for you! If not… this blog topic will spark your interest! This week our guest writer Yvonne Prince is going to show you different ways to perform accurate echo measurements by applying geometric concepts to improve your echo skills.
CardioServ has posted various blogs on the topics of Right Heart Quantification and RVSP, following ASE guidelines. If you missed them, you can find them here. One of the biggest factors in determining the RVSP via echo is evaluating and measuring the tricuspid regurgitant (TR) Doppler jet.
You have read our blogs…. now earn CMEs! After repeated requests to offer CMEs for our educational services, we are proud to invite you to check out our new Category 1 AMA CMEs online platform. Developed with the same quality and ease as our blogs, our online CME platform provides you with relevant information for your daily practice of echocardiography.
ASE recently released a new guideline paper for contrast echo. First you will notice by the title of the paper that ASE is now using Ultrasonic Enhancing Agents (UEA), or ‘enhanced echo’ to replace the confusing term “contrast” echo. Thank goodness…no more stories from patients about how they are allergic to sea food and CT contrast!
CardioServ’s next stop on the World Tour was Cleveland, Ohio! We had the honor of speaking at the Spring Echo Conference “Back to Basics” for the NOCIA. The Society conference was held on the campus of a local college (Cuyahoga Community College). Attendees from the Cleveland and Akron area attended, which included sonographers, students and physicians.
Last week we walked through a case study demonstration, using the ASE’s chronic mitral regurgitation (MR) algorithm. This week, we have another case study to present– let’s see how you quantify the severity of MR!
Last week, we covered the basic anatomy of the mitral apparatus. We reviewed in detail, the various structures and their function. As we continue with our mitral regurgitation blog series, we want to touch next on, specific imaging windows to evaluate the mitral valve. Remember, when we examine the valve, we need to make sure we include all structures of the apparatus.
Before jumping into assessing the RV with the Fractional Area Change method, lets recap the past couple weeks. Last week, we talked about two methods for quantifying the function of the RV (TAPSE & S’ Wave). We selected these methods to explain first due to ease, reproducibility and established prognostic value. As some of our readers pointed out and as we discussed the TAPSE and S’ Wave methods do have limitations though. The 3 main limitations are:
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