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As you may have seen in emails, social media posts, and the website, SCMR has a new management partner, and along with it, a new headquarters and staff team! We’re proud to work with Association Management Center (AMC) to advance our mission and achieve our strategic goals. |
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Director of Operations
Let me help you with strategic planning, external relations, budget and finance inquiries, publications, verification, the registry, and JCMR.
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Operations Coordinator
Let me help you with the JCMR Journal Club.
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Operations Administrator
Let me help you with special interest group inquiries and administration.
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Membership and
Marketing Manager
Let me help you with membership, communications and public relations, the early career section, the SCMR newsletter, and social media inquiries.
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Interim Education Manager
Let me help you with scientific sessions, continuing medical education, and online learning.
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For general questions and membership inquiries, please contact our Member Services Group at HQ@scmr.org or +1 847.375.4747. Our new headquarters is located at 8735 W. Higgins Rd., Ste. 300, Chicago, IL, 60631, USA.
AMC is a trusted partner to 26 leading healthcare, scientific, and professional associations. With a staff of more than 165 association professionals, we provide strategic guidance to boards and oversee day-to-day operations, making it possible for our association partners to realize their missions and achieve their goals. We specialize in serving healthcare and science associations, establishing trusted, long-lasting relationships that help our association partners thrive and grow. To learn more about how AMC helps its clients achieve their missions, visit connect2amc.com.
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Those who wish to be considered should:
- have web and/or social media experience
- include a one-page cover letter with relevant experience
- be a member in good standing for 5 consecutive years (3 years for Early Career candidates)
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SCMR 24th Annual Scientific Sessions |
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2022 Proposed Rule on the Medicare
Physician Fee Schedule
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by Carrie Kovar, Government Relations Consultant to SCMR
On July 13, 2021, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the proposed Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Rule (MPFS) for 2022. Based on initial analysis, reimbursement would be lower for many services across the house of medicine if the rule is finalized without change.
Some of the proposed cuts are attributable to a reduction in the 2022 Medicare conversion factor, from $34.8931 to $33.5848. The conversion factor reduction is largely due to the expiration of a 3.75% increase to the conversion factor at the end of calendar year 2021, a cut averted for 2021 by congressional action. Relative value units (RVUs) are multiplied by the conversion factor to calculate reimbursement for individual services. Congressional action will be necessary to avert the cut for 2022.
Also of note, CMS plans to implement the penalty phase of the appropriate use criteria mandate on January 1, 2023, or the January 1 following the end of the public health emergency, whichever falls later. As required by federal law, ordering providers must begin to consult with qualified clinical decision support mechanisms (CDSMs) prior to ordering advanced imaging services (MR, CT, PET, nuclear medicine) for Medicare patients and provide information to the furnishing provider for reporting on their claims. Once implemented, furnishing provider claims with incorrect or incomplete information would preclude payment.
SCMR will further review the proposed rule and submit comments by the September deadline. For additional highlights and proposed reimbursement values for cardiovascular magnetic resonance and other imaging services, see www.scmr.org.
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Virtual Native Enhancement Instead of LGE: No Contrast, No Needles |
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Zhang et al. published a study this month in Circulation detailing an exciting newly developed AI-based technique—“Virtual Native Enhancement” (VNE). VNE offers the potential for rapid CMR tissue characterization simulating LGE images but without the need for contrast or needles. Native (contrast-free) T1-mapping and cine images contain rich information about myocardial tissue. The authors used deep-learning AI techniques to fuse these CMR images to detect myocardial fibrosis resembling conventional LGE images. The AI deep learning effectively acts as a “virtual contrast agent” that enhances the native CMR without the need for gadolinium. The authors validated this VNE concept and technique first on hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, using datasets from 1,348 patients in the HCMR registry. The study was a collaboration between groups at Oxford University, the University of Virginia, and Harvard Medical School. VNE represents a viable clinical option for patients who have contraindications to receiving Gadolinium contrast and may also be useful when rapid or repeated imaging is needed.
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Qiang Zhang (corresponding author),
Oxford Centre for Clinical Magnetic Resonance Research
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On July 21, 2021, experts Chiara Bucciarelli-Ducci, MD, and Colin Berry, MD, presented the Siemens Healthineers webinar Novel Insights into MINOCA and INOCA: Resolving Diagnostic Dilemmas and discussed the potential of diagnostic imaging for risk assessment and prognosis in MINOCA and INOCA patients. This webinar highlighted the added value of CMR, CT, and Angio imaging in both acute and chronic ischemia without obstructive coronary arteries. Be on the lookout for the recording of this innovative session, coming in August to the SCMR Online Learning Portal. |
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What caught our cardiac MR eyes this month?
by Manish Motwani, Newsletter Editor
Twitter-based #WhyCMR journal watch 📚⌚ - join the online discussion!
5. New frontiers in myocardial inflammation imaging with USPIOs 🔹✨🕶
10. Virtual-LGE AI-based needle-free fibrosis assessment in HCM 🤖🤯😎❌💉
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HKCC-SCMR Symposium 2021 Draws Large International Audience |
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We are delighted to report another successful collaboration between SCMR and colleagues in Asia, having just launched the joint Hong Kong College of Cardiology HKCC-SCMR Symposium 2021, (virtual on June 26-27, 2021). The Organizing Committee (Dr. Chiara Bucciarelli-Ducci, Dr. Ngai-Yin Chan), the Program Committee (Dr. Carmen Chan, Prof. Vanessa Ferreira), and Committee Members had worked hard for 2 years to deliver this outstanding program. The meeting was well-received, with an impressive turnout of approximately 700 faculty and participants from 62 countries and regions worldwide. The symposium was highly interactive with live faculty members and received many positive comments, with more than 90% of the participants providing a good to excellent score for its content, organization, practicality, and usefulness in enhancing learning in CMR, and attest to the high quality of the event. We look forward to future collaborations as SCMR continues its outreach to make CMR accessible for clinical care and research internationally. |
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Slice Positioning and Velocity Encoding
Accurate slice positioning is imperative to ensure reliable results when planning the phase contrast flow (PCF) sequence. The slice should be placed orthogonally to the direction of the blood flow. Two images in orthogonal orientation should be used to position the slice so the technologist can ensure it is not obliqued to the vessel wall in either position. Deviation of over 20 degrees from the true orthogonal position will negatively impact the results by underestimating peak velocity (Ping 2005). Aim to produce an image in which the vessel is positioned in the centre of the slice and is a true circle in shape. If you are imaging the flow from a stenotic valve, the blood flow jet may be oblique. In this scenario, position the PCF slice perpendicular to the jet and not the vessel wall.
An aliasing artefact occurs when there is a mismatch between the prescribed velocity encoding (VENC) range and the true peak velocity of blood flow within the blood vessel. The aliasing artefact will appear as a black and white pixilating effect within the lumen of the vessel (Figure 1). A sequence that has aliased must be repeated with an increased VENC range to eradicate the artefact (Figure 2). It is best practice to choose a VENC value that closely matches the true peak velocity of the blood vessel. If the VENC value is set too high, the acquired data will be impacted by background noise which will underestimate the true peak velocity value. Utilising a scout sequence will not only determine the correct VENC value, it will also confirm you are in the correct slice position and orientation.
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Figure 1
Aliasing artefact within the lumen of the blood vessel
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Figure 2
Increasing the VENC has removed the artefact
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Online Educational Opportunities |
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The SCMR web site hosts “Case of the Week” - a case series designed to present case reports demonstrating the unique attributes of CMR in the diagnosis or management of cardiovascular disease. Each clinical presentation is followed by a brief discussion of the disease and unique role of CMR in disease diagnosis or management guidance. By nature, some of these are somewhat esoteric, but all are instructive. Recently we have published the case archive from 2019 in JCMR as a means of further enhancing the education of those interested in CMR and as a means of archiving this incredible resource from our members on PubMed.
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July 1 to July 26, 2021
#WhyCMR Activity
by Purvi Parwani
Each month our social media committee correspondents update us on the latest #WhyCMR activity stats, most popular tweets or threads. Join the conversation and use the #WhyCMR in your social media posts and follow @SCMRorg!
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Last month's CMR Picture Puzzle answer: |
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Research
Holtackers et al.
Published on 22nd of July 2021
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Research
Arar et al.
Published on 19th of July 2021
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Research
Isaak et al.
Published on 19th of July 2021
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Research
Guan et al.
Published on 15th of July 2021
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Research
Londono et al.
Published on 12th of July 2021
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Research
Giusca et al.
Published on 12th of July 2021
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Research
Krupickova et al.
Published on 8th of July
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Research
Spampinato et al.
Published on 8th of July 2021
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Research
Jin et al.
Published on 5th of July 2021
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Research
Pezel et al.
Published on 5th July 2021
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Research
Webster et al.
Published on 1st of July 2021
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Please use this link for a filtered PubMed list of all CMR-related manuscripts for July 2021—more than 300 in total!
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Manish Motwani
Newsletter Editor
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Beginning July 1, you can reach SCMR Headquarters at +1 847.375.4747 or at the mailing address below. We will continue to receive your emails at HQ@scmr.org
8735 W. Higgins Rd., Ste. 300
Chicago, IL 60631
USA
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