Continuing Education and Meeting Calendar

acquired in the clinical setting. To address this situation, Jens-UweVoigt and colleagues in Leuven organized a clinical scanning trial inApril, 2013. In an amazing feat of tenacity, they managed over fivedays to have 62 patients and volunteers with a wide range of left ven-tricular function imaged on seven different acquisition instrumentsand additionally analyzed on two programs from software-only ven-dors. Full analysis of these data for GLS is on-going and results are ex-pected to be presented at EuroEcho 2013 in Istanbul. This study willprovide a rich dataset for standardization efforts involving other strainparameters.

Relationship to DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communi-cations in Medicine): From the beginning, the strain standardiza-tion committee has maintained a liaison with DICOM WorkingGroup (WG) 12, responsible for codifying exchange of ultrasound im-ages and data. Early on there were discussions about developing astandardized exchange format based on individual ultrasound scanlines, used by some vendors in their strain analysis, rather than themore typical Cartesian grid currently used. However, such

22A Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography

modality-unique formats are discouraged by the parent DICOMcommittee, and consideration of this has been shelved. There ismore enthusiasm, however, for developing a dictionary of standard-ized terms, which could be used in structured reporting to pass param-eters from the echo machine into the generated report. Ourcommittee stands ready to assist WG-12 (andWG-8, which is respon-sible for setting the general principles in structured reporting) when-ever it is appropriate to add advanced myocardial mechanicsindices to the ultrasound structured reporting standard.

Industry collaboration: The experience of the committeethus far has demonstrated the potential for cooperation among ven-dors and the echo societies. Within the confines of our roughly bian-nual meetings, there has been a great deal of productive technicaldiscussion converging on a consensus document drafted and agreedto by our industry partners. The strong spirit of collaborationdemonstrated in this process encourages us to press forward inthis and other areas where echocardiographic standardization isneeded.

Continuing Education and Meeting Calendar

The American Society of Echocardiography is accredited by theAccreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to pro-vide continuing medical education for physicians. ASE recognizescourses as supplements to formal training in an established echo-cardiographic laboratory. For more information about a course,please call the number listed. To list a course in the Continuing Ed-ucation and Meeting Calendar, send the date(s), title, location,sponsor, course director(s), and contact information to ASE,Attn: Cheryl Williams, 2100 Gateway Centre Boulevard, Suite310, Morrisville, NC 27560; Tel: 919-861-5574 x7160; E-mail:cwilliams@asecho.org.

Ongoing courses, preceptorships, accredited programs, andschools will be listed only once a year. Please refer to the ASEWeb site, www.asecho.org, for a complete listing of course offer-ings.

December 14–15, 2013. Non-Invasive Imaging andOutcomes: Focus on Fetal Echocardiography and Echo-PathCorrelates in Congenital Heart Defects. Icahn School of Med-icine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY. Sponsored by Icahn Schoolof Medicine at Mount Sinai and New York Pediatric Echo Society.Held in cooperation with ASE. Course Director: Shubhika Srivas-tava, MBBS, FASE. Contact: Icahn School of Medicine at MountSinai. Tel: 212-731-7941; Fax: 646-537-9203; E-mail: cme@mssm.edu.

January 20–24, 2014. 24th Annual Echo Hawaii. HapunaBeach Price Hotel, Kohala Coast, Big Island, HI. Jointly sponsoredby ASE and the ASE Foundation. Course Director: Jonathan

Lindner, MD, FASE. Contact: Beth Fulk. Tel: 919-297-7157;Fax: 919-882-9900; E-mail: echohawaii@asecho.org; Web site:www.asecho.org/education.

February 14-18, 2014. 27th Annual State-of-the-ArtEchocardiography. Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort andSpa, Scottsdale, AZ. Jointly sponsored by ASE and the ASEFoundation. Course Director: Vera Rigolin, MD, FASE.Contact: Brandi Delany. Tel: 919-297-7171; Fax: 919-882-9900;E-mail: sota@asecho.org; Web site: www.asecho.org/education

May 11–13, 2014. 2014 ASCeXAM/ReASCE ReviewCourse. Philadelphia Marriott Downtown, Philadelphia, PA.Jointly sponsored by ASE and the ASE Foundation. CourseDirector: Steven Lester, MD, FASE. Contact: Brandi Delany.Tel: 919-297-7171; Fax: 919-882-9900; E-mail: reviewcourse@asecho.org; Web site: www.asecho.org/education.

June 20–24, 2014. ASE 25th Annual Scientific Sessions.Oregon Convention Center, Portland, OR. Jointly sponsored byASE and the ASE Foundation. Course Director: Jonathan Lindner,MD, FASE. Contact: ASE. Tel: 919-297-7157; Fax: 919-882-9900; E-mail: registrar@asecho.org; Web site: www.asescientificsessions.org.

October 11–14, 2014. 3rd Annual Echo Florida. Disney’sGrand Floridian, Walt Disney World�, FL. Jointly sponsored byASE and the ASE Foundation. CourseDirector:Michael H. Picard,MD, FASE. Contact: Beth Fulk. Tel: 919-297-7157; Fax: 919-882-9900; E-mail: echoflorida@asecho.org; Web site: www.asecho.org/education.

Volume 26 Number 11