27th Annual Canadian Society of Echocardiography Hybrid Weekend (CSE 2025) | Marriott Downtown at CF Toronto Eaton Centre, Toronto, ON | May 1 to 3, 2025
The Canadian Society of Echocardiography (CSE) is a non-profit organization of Cardiovascular professionals committed to excellence in Echocardiography, and promotion and delivery of quality echocardiographic services across Canada. The CSE is an Affiliate Society of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society.
2024 Reflections and Aspirations for the Year Ahead
Dear colleagues,
Reflecting on the dawn of 2025, as the new President of the vibrant Canadian Society of Echocardiography, affiliate of the esteemed Canadian Cardiovascular Society, I feel that together with your involvement in our events, we have achieved significant milestones that inspire us as we chart our course for the future. I am honored to lead us into this promising year, where we will continue to build upon our legacy while embracing the opportunities that lie ahead.
In a world that is ever-evolving, we face numerous challenges—be it the impacts of climate change or shifts in governance. Yet, we stand firm, anchored by our enduring values and the lessons gleaned from our shared experiences. It is with humility and ambition that I look ahead, determined to harness these insights as we strive to enhance our impact on cardiovascular health across Canada.
I feel incredibly blessed to inherit a society that has grown tremendously under the leadership of our past presidents and all those involved. I am also looking forward to working closely with my vice president, Amer Johri, as we continue to advance our goals. I want to thank Sharon Mulvagh, our president from 2022 to 2024. Her contributions have enriched our society in immeasurable ways, and her vision has set a strong foundation for our future endeavors.
Together, we’re building a community rooted in learning, collaboration, and excellence in our field. By doing so, we’re making a meaningful difference in the lives of those we serve. I’m eager to see what we can accomplish together in the years ahead!
See you in May in Toronto!
Igal A. Sebag, MD, FRCPC, FACC, FASE
President, Canadian Society of Echocardiography
Professor of Medicine, McGill University
I would like to start by highlighting one of the greatest moments of 2024: our historic achievement in hosting the first-ever CSE Echo Weekend in Montreal, marking a significant milestone for our society. The hybrid nature of our recent meeting has been incredible, allowing us to reach out to the community at large while simultaneously providing those invaluable in-person connections. This interactive environment that we all share fostered collaboration and innovation, strengthening our mission. With 910 participants joining us—making this the largest hybrid CSE event ever held, and with more than 350 individuals attending in person—this occasion truly reflects the enthusiasm and commitment of our community.
This year, we offered an expansive and diverse array of sessions—both fundamental and cutting-edge—specifically tailored to meet the evolving needs of our dedicated practitioners, including physicians and sonographers.
Our sessions delved into critical topics that are shaping the future of echocardiography. We explored quality improvement initiatives, the rapidly advancing field of imaging for transcatheter procedures, and the complexities of valvular heart disease and critical care echocardiography. We also tackled the intricacies emerging challenges of hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy and cardio-oncology, focusing on therapy monitoring, the optimization of echo-guided procedures, as well as updates on adult congenital heart disease and clinical practice in our field.
One of the highlights of the meeting was our featured Friday evening symposium, titled “The Brave New World of Artificial Intelligence and Beyond - What Does it Mean for Echo?” This session sparked engaging discussions about the future of our field in an increasingly technological landscape.
In a remarkable addition, we hosted more workshops than ever before—totaling 12! Alongside our traditional workshops on 3D imaging, LV strain, contrast, and POCUS, we introduced structure and disease-specific topics such as “3D in the ICU,” “Strain of the Right Heart,” “Congenital Heart Disease,” and “Approach to the Thick Heart.”
Our well-attended sonographer forum served as an invaluable platform for addressing pertinent issues, including workflow optimization, advancements in ultrasound imaging techniques, and the integration of echocardiography in remote environments. We also emphasized important accreditation updates, ensuring our community remains at the forefront of our profession.
We were honored to host keynote presentations from distinguished guests, including Dr. Jeroen Bax, President of The European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging (EACVI), who challenged us with insights on “TAVR in the Moderate-Risk Patient,” and Dr. Stephen Little, Past-President of The American Society of Echocardiography (ASE), who returned by popular demand to update us on “Interventional Echocardiography – Training Considerations and Competencies Defined.”
Our engaging CSE Gameshow and Classic Cases of Canada became magnets for lively discussions and fruitful exchanges, fostering a collaborative spirit among participants. We seamlessly integrated cutting-edge research into the clinical arena by embedding these advancements within plenary sessions, along with pertinent oral abstracts presented in our educational clinical plenary sessions.
I am thrilled to share the tremendous impact we made at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress last October in Vancouver, where we proudly served the cardiology community and our CSE members! Our CSE spotlight session, “Rethinking the Aortic Valve: A New Approach to a Common Problem,” sparked insightful discussions that are sure to inspire innovative solutions.
This year, we achieved a significant milestone with the largest number of workshops ever at the Congress! Highlights included “Back to Basics: The Role of Echocardiography in the Diagnosis and Management of Heart Failure with Reduced Ejection Fraction,” “Artificial Intelligence and Digital Tools: Enhancing Healthcare Quality,” “Advances in Pulmonary Hypertension – Enhancing Care Through Innovation and Collaboration,” “My Worst Echo Nightmares: Cases from Coast to Coast ─ Parts I and II,” “Imaging of the Thick Heart: A Multimodality Approach,” “Cardio-Obstetric Nightmares,” and “Making the Initial Diagnosis of Congenital Heart Disease in the Adult: Echocardiography Spot Diagnosis.”
A huge thank you to Robin Ducas, our CPD Chair, and the education committee for their outstanding efforts in organizing this remarkable program!
I am thrilled to share our educational, clinical, and research initiatives for 2024 and our aspirations for 2025:
Assuming the presidency, my initial responsibility was to thoroughly review the mandates and the composition of all committees. I am excited to announce that we have renewed our committees, incorporating 20 to 30% new members who have not previously been involved. This strategic move is aimed at discovering new talent across our nation, which is essential for the growth and development of our society.
I am proud to highlight the success of our Continuing Professional Development (CPD) webinar on imaging for transcatheter mitral valve edge-to-edge repair this past December. This webinar achieved record attendance with 135 participants, demonstrating the strong interest in advancing our collective knowledge. It is currently available on the CCS website of the CardioCampus link for all CSE members to access and benefit from. Looking ahead, we are hoping to develop another webinar focused on imaging for transcatheter tricuspid valve interventions in the spring of 2025.
Additionally, I am excited to announce the creation of the Tony Sanfilippo Mentor of the Year Award, which will recognize a mid-career physician and underscores our commitment to mentorship within our society. Mentorship is vital for nurturing the next generation of leaders in our field.
I am deeply committed in my vision for the upcoming 2025 annual meeting in Toronto and am dedicated to fostering innovation and advancing our field. My three key priorities for this meeting are:
1. Enhancing Collaboration in Multimodality Imaging: While we remain primarily focused on echocardiography, we aim to deepen our collaboration with our sister imaging societies, including several joint sessions with CSCMRI and CNCT, to create a comprehensive, patient-centered approach to imaging and cardiovascular care. I am pleased to announce that CSCMRI will host a half-day of dedicated sessions specifically for their members, and we warmly invite our members to engage in these valuable discussions.
2. Implementing Innovative Pedagogical Formats: We will introduce engaging panel discussions and lively debates that encourage participation and knowledge sharing. I am particularly excited to announce a new joint session with the ASE, highlighting our commitment to collaboration within our community.
3. Focusing on Imaging for Clinical Outcomes: Our emphasis will be on how imaging can enhance clinical outcomes, ensuring that our practices are aligned with the latest advancements in patient care.
In an ongoing effort to nationalize our meetings and strengthen our connections across Canada, I am also pleased to announce that the 2026 CSE annual meeting will be held in Vancouver, ensuring that our members have the opportunity to engage and grow in diverse locations across our great country.
We are in the process of planning and developing the program for the CSE at the upcoming CCC in Quebec City, October 23-26, 2025, which will feature the CSE Spotlight session and various workshops.
In collaboration with Sonography Canada, representatives of the Sonography Canada and CSE hosted a dedicated Cardiac Echo Day at SonoCON 2024 in Vancouver. I had the privilege of attending a leadership meeting during which I gained valuable insights into the implications and considerations surrounding the practice of ultrasound in Canada. Looking ahead, we will soon be planning for SonoCON 2025 in Ottawa-Gatineau, October 2-4, 2025.
We are embarking on an exciting project to create a new CSE website! Our efforts are actively underway as we engage with third-party developers to design and maintain a dynamic online platform that will serve as the central hub for our growing community.
The CSE Clinical Committee is in the final stages of preparing a manuscript summarizing the findings of our pan-Canadian survey, titled “A Survey of the Performance, Delivery, and Quality Assessment of Echocardiography Services in Canada.” We believe that this important work will pave the way for future educational initiatives and webinars aimed at addressing gaps in our practice.
In partnership with the ASE, the CSE has endorsed one of the most important guideline papers of 2024 “Guidelines for the Evaluation of Prosthetic Valve Function with Cardiovascular Imaging: A Report from the American Society of Echocardiography Developed in Collaboration with the Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance and the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography” (JASE, January 2024).
Our research initiatives continue to propel our society and the field of echocardiography forward!
This year, we are proud to support remarkable projects within the CREATE grant competition such as “Echocardiography Online Quality Assessment and Direct Feedback Modules,” spearheaded by Dr. Robin Ducas and Dr. Chi-Ming Chow (2023-2024).
Looking ahead, we have the “Building the Canadian National Echocardiography Assessment Tool (C-NEAT)” project, led by Dr. Aws Almufleh and Ms. Cheryl Shaw, slated for 2024-2025.
This year’s CSE CREATE grant competition is currently underway, providing an excellent opportunity for groundbreaking research!
In our continuous effort to support our members, we are offering travel bursaries for members-in-training, cardiac sonographers, and young faculty members to attend prestigious national and international research conferences, including CSE, ASE, CCS, EACVI and Echo Hawaii.
At Echo Hawaii 2025, our representation shone brightly, with 8 out of 12 Canadian abstracts accepted—an impressive third of all accepted abstracts! This success reflects the incredible talent and dedication within our community.
Additionally, we are taking significant steps to rejuvenate the echo journal club in partnership with the JASE podcast, creating a vibrant platform for discussion and learning.
The CSE continues to thrive in its mission to enrich and foster fruitful collaborations with our esteemed sister societies around the globe. We are excited to see renewed momentum with the ASE as we establish various avenues for collaboration and synergy!
Mark your calendars for CSE 2025, where we will host a featured CSE/ASE joint symposium that promises to be a highlight of the event. Additionally, at the EACVI meeting this past December in Berlin, we had the honor of presenting a joint session focused on cardiovascular imaging in women, featuring insightful contributions from Sharon Mulvagh. Her expertise shone a light on this critical area of research.
I have elaborated on the terms of reference for the ASE and EACVI liaison positions, and I am confident that Michael Chetrit (ASE) and Marie-Annick Clavel (EACVI) will excel in their roles, significantly enriching our collaborations.
The Brazilian Society of Echocardiography has extended an invitation to 2 members of our society to participate in their annual meeting in October 2025. This is a fantastic opportunity for cross-cultural exchange and collaboration!
Furthermore, we are proud to announce the selection of our new EACVI HIT Liaison—congratulations to Darwin Yeung! He will represent the young generation of leaders within the EACVI network, bringing fresh perspectives and innovative ideas to our collective efforts.
This year, we have embarked on a significant philanthropic project in collaboration with the MTIMA organization to provide vital assistance and training in Malawi, Africa. We are excited to send 6 sonographers and trainees, working in pairs, throughout the year, fully funded by the CSE, to serve these underserved communities for two weeks at a time. This initiative is a fantastic opportunity to make a meaningful impact on healthcare in Malawi! We have received a large number of applications and have already selected our first 2 participants who will be heading out in March 2025!
To support this important work, I have established 2 positions of Co-Chairs of Philanthropy within our board of directors. I am confident that this project will be implemented with excellence under the guidance of Dr. Sharon Mulvagh and Kenneth Szeto, whose leadership and dedication will ensure its success.
