A Sound Guide: The Critical Role of Echo in the AS Patient Journey

Aortic stenosis (AS) remains underdiagnosed and undertreated, often due to missed opportunities in recognition, referral, and integration of echocardiographic findings into care. Challenges like asymptomatic or low-gradient presentations and variability in interpretation can delay timely intervention.

This CME-certified symposium features expert faculty exploring how echocardiography guides critical decisions in the care of patients with severe AS. Through case-based discussion and insights from trials such as DETECT-AS and EARLY TAVR, the session will highlight echo’s role in navigating silent severity, diagnostic uncertainty, and timely intervention—across a range of real-world scenarios, from low-gradient presentations to system-based strategies that improve recognition and referral.

This activity has been designed to meet the educational needs of healthcare professionals involved in the diagnosis, imaging, and management of patients with AS—particularly those who evaluate complex cases or contribute to early intervention decisions. The primary audience includes interventional and general cardiologists, cardiovascular surgeons, echocardiographers, cardiovascular anesthesiologists, and sonographers. Additional relevance extends to fellows, internists, advanced practice providers, and other members of the multidisciplinary heart team.

After participating in this activity, learners will be able to:

Recognize the role of echocardiography in the early identification and risk stratification of patients with severe AS, including those who are asymptomatic.

Describe the impact of structured decision-support tools, such as electronic provider notifications, on timely referral and aortic valve replacement in patients with severe AS.

Differentiate diagnostic approaches for low-gradient severe AS, including the use of multimodality imaging and advanced echocardiographic assessment techniques.

Apply current evidence from clinical trials, including EARLY TAVR and DETECT-AS, to guide timing of intervention in patients with asymptomatic or discordant AS presentations.

Evaluate the influence of echocardiography report quality on downstream clinical decision-making, including referral patterns and treatment delays.

This activity is jointly provided by Medical Education Resources and Blackwood CME.

There is no fee to participate in this educational activity.

To receive credit, complete the evaluation by using the link provided at the symposium. Once submitted, a certificate will be made available to you and emailed to the registered email address.

This activity is supported by an educational grant from Edwards Lifesciences.

Medical Education Resources ensures balance, independence, objectivity, and scientific rigor in all our educational activities. In accordance with this policy, MER identifies all financial relationships with its instructors, content managers, and other individuals who are in a position to control the content of an activity. Reported relevant financial relationships are mitigated by MER to ensure that all scientific research referred to, reported, or used in a CE activity conforms to the generally accepted standards of experimental design, data collection, and analysis. MER is committed to providing learners with high-quality CE activities that promote improvements or quality in health care and not the business interest of an ineligible company.

The faculty members reported the following relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies whose products or services may be mentioned in this activity:

The content managers reported the following relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies whose products or services may be mentioned in this activity:

This program is not part of the official ASE 2025 Scientific Sessions as planned by the ASE Program Committee. This event is not sponsored by or endorsed in any way by ASE.

The content and views presented in this educational activity are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of Medical Education Resources, Blackwood CME, and/or Edwards Lifesciences. The authors have disclosed whether their presentations contain any discussion of published and/or investigational uses of agents that are not indicated by the FDA. Before prescribing any medicine, primary references and full prescribing information should be consulted. Any procedures, medications, or other courses of diagnosis or treatment discussed or suggested in this activity should not be used by clinicians without evaluation of their patient’s conditions and possible contraindications on dangers in use, review of any applicable manufacturer’s product information, and comparison with recommendations of other authorities. The information presented in this activity is not meant to serve as a guideline for patient management.

Host or Publisher Blackwood CME