Overview
Who Will Benefit
Objectives
Topics include:
Downloads
You’ve Got Questions
Overview

Your Individualized Classroom Tutorial in Vascular Ultrasound Interpretation

Intense and fast track vascular ultrasound interpretation protocols to prepare you for the and Medicare requirements.  Taught and updated continuously since 1983. 

This classroom is small enough to give you a one-on-one discussion about every element of the process.  With a teaching process unlike traditional methods, you’ll gain all the requisite protocols, criteria, mindset and verbiage to confidently and quickly report findings from any vascular ultrasound study.

Four decades of practice and teaching the subject lie behind the course.  Content is focused on your experience and specialty regardless of your background.  The principal vascular studies are covered in detail from head to toe.   Every point is archived in comprehensive print materials you’ll take away with you.

Our free post-conference support extends in perpetuity.

Who Will Benefit

Vascular Surgeons & Cardiologists

The failure rate for your requisite RPVI Exam has increased slightly over the last several years.  Prepare quickly and fully for it by knowing the technical elements behind every vascular test.

ER and Critical Care Physicians

Gain the confidence and authority to make immediate decisions while you wait for the formal report from Radiology.

 PA’s and Nurse Practitioners

Stand out in a crowded field:  Expand your resume with the unique leverage this experience will give you in cardiovascular medicine, particularly as reimbursement moves away from procedure-based compensation to value-based care.

Phlebology & Wound Care Specialists

The American College of Phlebology and ICAVL require documented competence through the RPVI Exam; this class will intensely prepare you for it.    Wound Care nurses will gain a profound insight into the role of vascular testing in the management of microcirculatory compromise.

Research & Medical Device Professionals

As a research scientist, you’ll be able to identify and measure precisely virtually any element of vascular function.  If you’re a medical device professional you’ll be able to better build, market and sell your product with a sharper competitive edge.  Consider this experience more a private consultation than a traditional group conference.

Objectives

Our approach is totally focused on the patient diagnosis.  We are deeply familiar with virtually every ultrasound machine and the manufacturer’s rationale behind its design, features, and functions.  Even so, no faculty members have any commercial interests or participation that might influence course content.  There is no formal exam in this class.  Learners are evaluated continuously and positive feedback is offered throughout.  Upon completion of this activity, you should be able to:

• Identify and correct or compensate for even the most subtle artifacts and operator errors to avoid misinterpretation of the data.
• Classify hemodynamic data by multidimensional Doppler signal analysis to identify focal, serial, and proximal or distal arterial occlusive disease.
• Confidently Identify DVT and venous valvular incompetence in the legs or arms.
• Identify AAA from views obtained from the aortic root, aortic arch, and abdominal aortic segments; critically evaluate for dissection by both imaging and Doppler means.
• Identify both renal artery stenosis and intrarenal microcirculatory impairment by objective Doppler analysis.
• Identify and classify Baker’s cyst and determine its potential effect on venous and arterial circulation.
• Classify hemodynamic data by multidimensional Doppler signal analysis to identify focal, proximal, and distal carotid vascular disease.
• Issue a concise report on any test using standardized verbiage as established by the Intersocietal Accreditation Commission.
• Validate carotid IMT measurement and stratify its recognized importance in estimating global CV risk.
• Identify, classify, and communicate morphologic findings of atherosclerotic plaque using standardized terms for location, degree, and composition.
• Apply the principles of flow direction, S/D ratio, RI, PI, and acceleration/deceleration phenomena to the transtemporal TCD waveform.
• Establish a continuous feedback channel with sonographer staff to maintain and refine quality care.
• Discuss your special-interest topics with faculty, both in class and post-conference.

Topics include:

The class is strictly small so we can spend time on the topics we need to cover and all the ones you want to discuss:

• Angle-corrected Doppler and its defined role in the assessment of vascular disease.
• Role and analysis of LE arterial physiologic testing, including digit pressures.
• Analysis of Doppler waveform contour and velocity parameters in the extremity arteries: which takes precedence and why.
• Framing the arterial exam report to fit the patient: stratifying the results for action.
• The false vs. a true aneurysm in the limb: don’t forget abscess.
• Post-procedure surveillance criteria for stent and bypass graft patients.
• Application of duplex imaging in the arms in TOS and subclavian stenosis.
• Evaluation of the dialysis access graft from pre- to post-op, beginning to end.
• Lower extremity DVT: criteria, cautions, and controversies in diagnosis.
• The complete protocol and latest criteria for deep and superficial venous valvular incompetence.
• Caught in the middle: why nutritive microcirculation fails and what to test for first.
• The complete noninvasive assessment for AAA: it’s not just the abdomen anymore.
• The functional protocol for celiac and mesenteric artery stenosis.
• The systematic approach to carotid artery image analysis: how to avoid every artifact every time.
• Optimal criteria for proposing total carotid vessel occlusion and what to do with the patient next.
• Three pertinent findings to report in the vertebral artery.
• A brief review of Chi-Square statistical analysis in preparation for the RPVI Exam.

• How to spot and eliminate the most common operator errors that can skew your results.

• Aortic dissection and the role of the cardiac transducer.

• Complete vascular assessment of the kidney: how to quantify inflow and microvascular perfusion.

• The four relevant Doppler criteria for the classification of carotid artery stenosis.

• Essential principles and criteria for transcranial Doppler for extra- and intracranial assessment.

• Coming trends in reimbursement, regulation, and technology.

Downloads

We’ve prepared a free library of high-resolution Anatomy Posters and Worksheets for you here.   Be certain to also download a free copy of our Employer/Employee Agreement, where you can gain your Employer’s sponsorship of your travel and education costs in exchange for your commitment over time.

You’ve Got Questions

I’m Amy Donaldson and we want to answer your every question.  You can email or call us at (972) 353-3200 (USA, GMT -06:00).  You can also click About Us or visit our FAQ page.