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Contact: Angie Porter
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aporter@asecho.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEIMAGING EXPERTS PUBLISH NEW GUIDELINE FOR MULTIMODALITY ASSESSMENT OF CONGENITAL
CORONARY ANOMALIESMarch 3, 2020, Durham, NC – Experts in the medical imaging community have developed alandmark consensus document to optimize care of patients with congenital coronary anomalies.
These defects of the blood vessels that supply blood to the heart muscles can be an importantcause of a heart attack and sudden cardiac death in children and young adults, but historicallythey have been difficult to identify without cardiac catheterization. However, recent advances in
multimodality imaging techniques have demonstrated increasing utility in the characterization ofmost congenital coronary anomalies in all age groups, and these techniques can complement orreduce the need for invasive angiography in many cases. Recommendations for Multimodality
Assessment of Congenital Coronary Anomalies: A Guide from the American Society of
Echocardiography provides guidelines for optimization of imaging for congenital coronaryanomalies, with a review of the benefits and limitations of the different imaging techniques,
including echocardiography, cardiac computed tomography, cardiac magnetic resonanceimaging, nuclear myocardial perfusion imaging, and angiography. This guideline was developed incollaboration with the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions, the JapaneseSociety of Echocardiography, and the Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance, and has
also been endorsed by 17 ASE International Alliance Partners.
ASE’s Chair of the writing group, Peter Frommelt, MD, FASE, of Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin andthe Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee said, “Congenital coronary artery anomalies, both inisolation and associated with other forms of congenital heart disease, have been recognized ashaving significant potential morbidity and mortality, including sudden cardiac death in children andadolescents. This document outlines specific strategies for imaging of each of the known congenital
coronary anomalies, providing cardiac imaging specialists with a valuable resource to improve
patient care and foster responsible utilization of diagnostic imaging modalities”.
In conjunction with the publication of this guideline, Dr. Frommelt will conduct a live webinar,including a question and answer section, on Tuesday, April 28, 2020, at 1:00 PM Eastern time. Thewebinar will be available for free to all ASE members and open to all other clinicians for just $25.
Registration and access to all ASE-hosted guideline webinars is available on ASEUniversity.org.
The full guideline document is available on the Journal of American Society of Echocardiography(JASE) website (OnlineJASE.com). This document and all ASE Guideline documents are alsoavailable to the medical community at ASEcho.org/Guidelines.

About ASE
ASE is the Society for Cardiovascular Ultrasound ProfessionalsTM. Over 17,000 physicians,
sonographers, nurses, veterinarians, and scientists are members of ASE, making it the largest globalorganization for cardiovascular ultrasound imaging and as such the leader and advocate, setting
practice standards and guidelines for the field. The Society is committed to advancing
cardiovascular ultrasound to improve lives. For more information about ASE, visit: ASEcho.org andfollow us @ASE360.
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