28 July 2022

Share Your Work with Your Peers!

The SCMR 26th Annual Scientific Sessions call for abstracts is now open.

Change global clinical practice while enhancing your career by submitting an abstract to present at the SCMR 26th Annual Scientific Sessions. Taking place from Wednesday, 25 January–Saturday, 28 January 2023, in person, in San Diego! Presenting your abstract is a rewarding experience that allows you to exercise your skills and share your knowledge with others in the field of CMR.

As of today, we are accepting abstracts for clinical cases, scientific sessions and/or SCMR/ISMRM co-provided workshops, and the technologist track. Abstracts can be on a variety of topics including coronary artery disease, cardiac masses, CMR in cardio-oncology, vascular imaging, multi-modality imaging in valvular heart disease, AI in CMR, and many more! Please read the submission guidelines for more information.

The submission deadline for abstracts is 21 September 2022 at 11:59 PM US CT.

Learn more from Program Chair João Cavalcante, MD, FSCMR, in the video below!

Learn more about #SCMR23 and keep up to date with any news on the upcoming conference by clicking the button below. Remember to use the hashtag #SCMR23 on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to get your colleagues and peers excited for this year’s sessions!

Exhibit at the SCMR 26th Annual Scientific Sessions

Exhibiting or sponsoring at the SCMR Annual Scientific Sessions puts your organization in front of more than 1,400 CMR professionals from our international audience attending both in-person and virtually. SCMR is the leading organization of global healthcare professionals committed to furthering the development and clinical application of CMR.

Join other imaging, pharmaceutical, medical device, clinical diagnostic, software, publishing, not-for-profit, and recruiting organizations while making connections with important industry leaders to showcase your company’s products and services.

Dates: Wednesday, 25 January–Saturday, 28 January 2023

Location: Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina, San Diego, CA, USA

For information on exhibitor and sponsorship opportunities, view the 2023 Exhibitor Prospectus and contact Adrianne Stokes, Manager of Professional Relations, at astokes@connect2amc.com.

Registry Committee Increases Contributing Centers, Supports Research in 2022

The SCMR Registry continues to grow, now with over 20 centers actively contributing data. More than 150,000 CMR cases including full DICOM image sets have been amassed, and this number continues to grow as new data flows in from the participating centers on a daily basis. The most recent sites to join include Ascension St. Vincent Southside Hospital in Jacksonville, Georgetown University, Indiana University, Seton Heart in Austin, and Vanderbilt University. This year the Registry Committee is focused on getting new research studies underway, and seeking funding opportunities for Registry-based research. Nine projects are currently ongoing in various stages of completion, and additional projects are under development. Ten papers have been published already based on the SCMR Registry, and more are expected this year.

Please visit the SCMR Registry webpage for information regarding current research projects and details on how your center can join.

Orlando Simonetti, PhD, MSCMR

Registry Committee Chair

Han Kim, MD

Registry Committee Vice Chair

Call to Action for High-Priority US Advocacy Issues

Important Reimbursement News

On 7 July, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the Proposed Rule on the 2023 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS). This proposed rule contains major payment cuts to providers, and imaging seems to be hit especially hard. While we are still reviewing the 2,000+ page text for more details on policies that impact the provision of imaging services, we know that SCMR will need to work in coalition with the American Medical Association (AMA) and other stakeholders in the House of Medicine to fight these cuts. This underscores the importance of SCMR's US physician members to also become AMA members. Please consider joining AMA and communicate your membership number to Jenny Orozco (jorozco@scmr.org). The table below offers a quick glimpse of proposed payment cuts for CMR services.

AUC “Mandate” Update and More

The Protecting Access to Medicare Act (PAMA) of 2014 established a program to mandate the use of appropriate use criteria (AUC) for advanced diagnostic imaging services provided to Medicare beneficiaries. Specifically, ordering professionals are required to consult with AUC through a clinical decision support mechanism (CDSM) prior to ordering an advanced diagnostic imaging service (CT, MR, nuclear medicine, and PET). The furnishing professional would not be paid by Medicare unless the furnishing professional documents that the ordering professional consulted with AUC.

Since enactment, CMS has struggled to implement this program through a multiyear regulatory process. CMS designated 2022 to be an educational and operations testing period, meaning that claims will still be paid even if clinical decision support mechanism information is not reported on the claim. Recently, CMS announced the payment penalty phase will not begin 1 January 2023, even if the Public Health Emergency for COVID-19 ends in 2022. Until further notice, the educational and operations testing period will continue. CMS did not provide information about when the payment penalty phase will begin. For details, see Appropriate Use Criteria Program | CMS.

Voter Voice

These high-priority issues, such as physician fee cuts and prior authorization reforms, require attention by Congress this year. US members should watch for upcoming SCMR calls to action. SCMR has invested in an automated grassroots system to make this easy for you. We will count on YOU to use this vital tool to contact your lawmakers on behalf of patients and our profession. So please, stay tuned! 

Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance 2021 cases of SCMR and COVID-19 case collection series

I am pleased to announce that the publication of the combined 2021 case series for Cases of SCMR and the SCMR Covid-19 Case Collection in the Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance on 4 July 2022. This open-access digital archive provides an opportunity for furthering the education of those interested in CMR and for ready identification of the cases using PubMed or a similar search engine.

The publication showcases a mixture of unusual paediatric and adult cases, and this year also, cases from SCMR’s COVID-19 Case Collection.

I would like to thank Cases of SCMR and the Covid-19 Case Collection’s fantastic team of Editors, Associate Editors, and reviewers. Please continue to submit your cases and enjoy the 2021 series!

Sylvia Chen, MBBS

Editor, Cases of SCMR 

SCMR is committed to publishing a number of resources in various languages to ensure that all CMR professionals around the world have access to necessary information. Newly uploaded to the SCMR website are three translations in Italian and Turkish.

“SCMR Position Paper (2020) on Clinical Indications for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance” – JCMR 2020 22:76

• Italian: Translated by Alberto Aimo, MD; and Anna Giulia Pavon, MD; reviewed by Andrea Cardona, MD, PhD, FSCMR, FACC
• Turkish: Translated by Elif Ayduk Gövdeli, MD; Begüm Uygur, MD; Zehra İrem Sezer, MD; Ahmet Barutçu, MD; and Özge Özden Tok, MD; reviewed by Ahmet Demirkıran, MD

“Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance in Women with Cardiovascular Disease: Position Statement from the Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance (SCMR)” –  JCMR 2021 23:52

• Italian: Translated by Alberto Cipriani, MD; and Fabrizio Ricci, MD, PhD, MSc, FEACVI; reviewed by Andrea Baggiano, MD, FEACVI

Recognizing Your Hard Work and Dedication to the CMR Field

The FSCMR designation provides a way for physicians, scientists, and technologists to be recognized for their dedication to SCMR and the field of CMR. FSCMR designation distinguishes those with a significant level of involvement, dedication, and accomplishments consistent with the overall mission of the Society. Benefits of FSCMR designation include entitlement to use the FSCMR credential, a credential certificate for your documentation, recognition in the SCMR Newsletter and website, inclusion in the forthcoming Patient Information Portal, recognition on name badges and Final Program at SCMR meetings, FSCMR lapel pin, and formal recognition at SCMR’s Annual Business Meeting. New for 2022, FSCMR designees will also receive preferred consideration for premier volunteer opportunities (writer or reviewer) for position statements and guidelines published by SCMR and partner societies. Learn more about eligibility criteria and how to apply!

Sustainable Low-Field CMR

Regina Mammen, MBBS, Cathy Qin, MBBS, and Sola Adeleke, PhD 

With the increasing burden of cardiovascular disease in the developing world, there is a growing need to improve access to essential diagnostic imaging modalities such as CMR. However, the expense of running a CMR service still limits its availability across many developing countries, leading to a huge global disparity in MRI services.

Recent research into low-field (LF) CMR has shown it has potential to be a more sustainable, non-inferior alternative to standard field CMR; employing LF strength scanners whilst also harnessing modern MRI hardware, sequences, and image reconstruction techniques may reduce costs without compromising diagnostic image quality. LF CMR may also pave the way for portable MRI to reach remote locations and potentially lead to opportunities in interventional CMR.

Ultimately, a CMR service needs to be tailored to its local population and healthcare needs. To achieve this, investment in local infrastructure, manufacturing, education, and research is essential and should be prioritised to ensure the sustainability of CMR in developing countries.

Regina Mammen, MBBS

Sola Adeleke, PhD

Course of Image, Technology and Interventional Cardiology (CITIC)

The SCMR Level 1 course held in Mexico City was a terrific live hands-on experience, with a full audience of attendees eager to learn more about CMR and to solve questions raised during their basic training or daily practice. Attendees updated their knowledge and acquired new skills along with tips and tricks from international experts in the field. The course gave attendees the chance to obtain these benefits in Mexico, with lectures delivered mostly in Spanish, without leaving our home country and for some other colleagues from Latin America who came from El Salvador and Ecuador.

It was a fantastic experience. The attendees asked us and CITIC to repeat this experience, enabling others to have this great opportunity, which motivates CITIC and SCMR to continue with their efforts. Special thanks to CITIC and Arteries for their great contribution to making this experience a reality.

Coming up in August and September

The Machine Learning Subcommittee of the Pediatric/Congenital Heart Disease Section of SCMR is pleased to announce two hands-on workshops on the use of machine learning (ML) in MRI for congenital heart disease (CHD). This series of workshops is particularly aimed at beginners in the field of Machine Learning. It is particularly suitable for clinicians working in MRI for CHD but is available to anyone who wants to learn the basics of ML and get first-time hands-on experience in the use of ML in MRI. In these workshops you will get a chance to access code and train/test ML networks on your own computer! You do not need any prior experience in coding, although some understanding of python would be beneficial. All code will be simple to run and you be guided thoroughly. The goal of these workshops is for you to learn about ML, and take these lessons away to start collecting good quality data at your own institutions, training your own ML networks, and contributing to registries. There is no cost, you do not need to be an SCMR member, and each session is 1.5 hours. Contact Jenny: jennifer.steeden@ucl.ac.uk

A classification task in CHD

Wednesday, 31 August 2022, 5 PM UK time

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/363924787837 

A segmentation task in CHD

Wednesday, 28 September 2022, 5 PM UK time

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/363925359547

Kanwal Farooqi, MD

Department of Pediatrics

Columbia University, New York, United States

Arrhythmia Imaging

Scanning patients with arrhythmia is always a challenge. There are different reasons why the patient’s heart rate is irregular, but it usually means the images are messy. There are several ways we can around imaging irregular heart rates: using the arrhythmia rejection programs on the scanners, using prospective triggering instead of retrospective triggering: or using real-time sequences.

To use the arrhythmia rejection sequences on a Siemens scanner, you can choose to correct the arrhythmia by using the select by time option. This option allows the operator to choose the average R-R time, and the scanner only uses the information acquired when the R-R is within the selected time.

To acquire prospective imaging on a Siemens scanner, the operator can go onto the physio page and change your ECG option from retro trigger to prospective trigger. This option allows the operator to select the R-R window (similar to the arrhythmia rejection option); however, the scanner only scans during the preselected time. This selection may lead to you missing part of the cardiac cycle and diastole.

Real-time imaging has made significant advancements lately. The image resolution can be compared to a regular cine image, and the real-time sequence will often show up to 10 heartbeats in the cine loop, allowing the clinician to make their diagnoses.

The operator might have to try several options before, but one tip I was always told to include a traditional cine so that the clinician can see why you have chosen that option. Perhaps, if you are lucky, the patient will have a regular, irregular heartbeat, and you can work around it. 

"How Do I Do..."

How Do I Do... 4D Flow 

Created by Jose F. Rodriguez-Palomares, MD, PhD, FSCMR; Christopher J. François, MD, FSCMR; Oliver Wieben, PhD, FSCMR; Sebastian Kozerke, PhD, FSCMR; Malenka Bissell, MD, PhD; Francesca Raimondi, MD; Andrea Guala, MD; Nicholas Burris, MD; Sergio Uribe, PhD; Andrew J. Powell, MD, FSCMR; Albert Hsiao, MD, PhD; Michael Markl, PhD, FSCMR

The “How I Do” CMR Series has grown! “How I Do 4D Flow MRI” has been added to the “How I Do” library at scmr.org. This presentation covers

• 4D Flow MRI Sequences
• 4D Flow MRI Protocols for Common Clinical Applications
• 4D Flow MRI Post-Processing and Advanced Hemodynamic Parameters
• Intracardiac Flow
• Clinical Applications: Valvular Heart Disease, Aortic Diseases, Heart Failure, Congenital Heart Disease

The “How I Do” CMR Series is a members only educational series demonstrating how members of the SCMR Clinical Practice Committee perform specific CMR scans.* If you have additional questions submit them to the CMR Practice Advisory Group where an experienced CMR volunteers will provide advice, assistance, and mentoring for physicians starting and developing cardiovascular MRI programs.

*These represent personal opinions for your information and are not official SCMR policy.

SCMR Latin America

This summer and autumn, the Society will be participating in three meetings in Latin America. We are honored to be represented at the Congress of the Department of Cardiovascular Imaging (DIC) in São Paulo, Brazil, 29-31 July 2022; the ANCAM (Asociación Nacional de Cardiólogos de México) Regional Meeting in Monterrey, Mexico, 5-6 August 2022; and the World Congress of Cardiology (WCC) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 13-15 October 2022.

SCMR China Webinar Recordings

The first-ever SCMR Chinese-language cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) educational webinar series covering the basic CMR topics concluded on 20 July. The series is aimed at those starting to develop their skills in CMR and covered late gadolinium enhancement, volumes, perfusion imaging in ischemic heart disease, cardiomyopathies, and flow measurements/valves.

All webinar recordings from the series are now available in SCMR's online learning portal. 

Late Gadolinium Enhancement

Recorded 24 May 2022

Perfusion Imaging & Ischemic Heart Disease

Recorded 7 June 2022

Webinar generously sponsored by Siemens Healthineers.

Flow and Valves

Recorded 21 June 2022

Cardiomyopathies

Recorded 12 July 2022

Volumes

Recorded 20 July 2022

A 46-year-old female with a history of asthma and Tetralogy of Fallot was evaluated for progressive dyspnea, chest pain, and palpitations. She underwent transannular patch repair at age 8. Ten years prior to presentation, due to severe pulmonic regurgitation, RV dilation (RVEDVi 180 mL/m2), and declining RV systolic function (RVEF 37%), she underwent bioprosthetic pulmonary valve replacement (PVR; 29 mm Mosaic), aneurysmectomy, and RV outflow tract (RVOT) revision with placement of a Gore-Tex patch to enlarge the RVOT diameter.

Image 1. (A) Short-axis (SAX) balanced steady state free precession (bSSFP), (B) 2-chamber bSSFP, (C) RVOT bSSFP, (D) 4-chamber bSSFP cine.

What Caught Our Cardiac MR Eyes This Month?

by Manish Motwani, Newsletter Editor

Twitter-based #WhyCMR journal watch 📚⌚—join the online discussion!

1. Pericardial/Pleural effusions: Exudate vs Transudate by T1 mapping 🧺🌊🌈
2. Review: State-of-the-art CMR in myocarditis – diagnosis, monitoring & risk 💔 🧲 📙
3. 30% regurgitant fraction = badness in chronic AR ☮
4. Caution: Mind the gap in AI-based CMR studies ⛔🧲🤖
5. Functional MR with CMR: sub-papillary ischemia is key 🧲 🥎🔑
6. Review/Consensus document: CMR in autoimmune rheumatic disease 🧟‍♂️🍖
7. #SCMRCases 2021 and COVID-19 collection published 💥📸

Please use this link for a filtered PubMed list of all CMR-related manuscripts for July 2022—more than 400 in total!

Visit the SCMR Career Center Today!

Looking for an all-in-one resource to advance your career in CMR? SCMR’s Career Center offers great resources for resume review, workplace wellness, career growth, virtual networking, and more. Visit the Career Center to stay on top of job openings in the CMR field. Browse for new opportunities by job function or location.

Employers can search for resumes in our Resume Bank and view complete resumes for free. Job seekers can check out the Featured Career Advice section for essential tips on interviewing, networking, personal branding, and more. Give your career a boost today and discover all the opportunities at the Career Center.