Chapter News

Chicago Area Vascular Association

The Chicago Area Vascular Association (CAVA) Spring 2008 Conference was another successful one. The subject of Hemodialysis and Venous Access was presented by four distinguished speakers. Karrel Bernardo spoke on the etiology and disease process of renal disease. This was a great anatomy refresher and helped us to understand what might lead a person to become dialysis dependent. Dr. Omar Morcos spoke on surgical intervention and treatment options for hemodialysis access, as well as advantages and disadvantages for each treatment. The knowledge of various options for creating AV fistulas/grafts, greatly assisted our sonographers in identifying the types of grafts we are scanning. Dr. Derek West presented the non-surgical interventions and catheter placement. He was very informative with regards to understanding how PICC lines and other IV lines are placed. Our final speaker was Virginia Pink, RVT, who wrapped up the conference with an overview of typical protocols and billing procedures.

We were a bit disappointed by the decrease in attendance this spring; but were pleasantly surprised by all of the positive comments that were submitted. We hope to see more attendees at the fall CAVA meeting. If anyone has topic suggestions or requests for the fall conference, please feel free to contact Jaime Jenjak at jaymers9179@aol.com.

North Jersey Vascular Association

The sun was shining outside on a wonderful spring day, but in a dark auditorium at Morristown Memorial Hospital there was a gathering of dedicated vascular sonographers. The annual spring meeting of the North Jersey Vascular Association (NJVA) was held on May 17. As usual, the meeting was well attended by more than 120 people. Attendees included long time members, new attendees, students and physicians. This year’s spring meeting was a truly special event due to our very distinguished guest speaker, Marsha Neumyer of Vascular Diagnostic Educational Services in Harrisburg, PA. Marsha presented an all day dynamic lecture on all aspects of Abdominal Duplex exams, which aided even the seasoned technologists with new techniques and tricks of the trade. Topics included renal Duplex, evaluation of abdominal aorta endografts, mesenteric evaluation and ended with a rousing game of Abdominal Duplex jeopardy. A fun, educational time was had by all who attended and we look forward to another terrific meeting in the fall.

An informative display was presented by Sue Smith, Director of Morristown Memorial Hospital School of Cardiovascular Technology, showcasing their accredited 18 month cardiovascular program. Those interested in the program can contact Sue Smith at susan.smith@atlantichealth.org

Thank you to Unetixs Vascular for sponsoring Marsha’s trip to North Jersey. Thank you also to our vendors, GE and Zonare for their continued support of our bi-annual meetings.

Anyone interested in joining our chapter or learning about future meetings can contact Carol Cooper at carol.cooper@atlantichealth.org.

Northern Ohio Vascular Association

NOVA’s Annual Spring Symposium was held on Saturday, April 26, 2008. There were 67 attendees who received 5.5 CME hours. Vascular surgeons David Rollins and Virginia Wong highlighted vascular surgery in the diabetic population and arterial revascularization respectively. Shelly Burns, the ICAVL Technical Director, discussed the recent ICAVL changes and tips to help with the vascular lab accreditation process. A live scanning demonstration was the highlight during Sue Whitlaw’s lecture titled “Renal Duplex, It’s Not Just About Arteries Anymore.” Sue’s lecture was then followed by a hands-on session in the vendor showcase. Lawyers Edward Tabor and Kathleen Atkinson discussed the legal medical charting process and lessons learned from medical litigation. The questions following this duo had everyone’s attention and were very interesting. A donation from American Greetings Corporation of over $200.00 worth of specialty wrapping and stationary products were raffled off to three lucky individuals. A total of $48 was raised, which was added to the education fund and submitted to SVU to support Education. A special Thank You is extended to GE Ultrasound, Philips, Zonare, Biosound, Siemens, Terason, Parks, VIASYS Healthcare, and Cone Instruments for their continued financial support to NOVA.

Chapters’ Breakfast in San Diego

Thank you to Northern Ohio Vascular Association, North Jersey Vascular Association, Suncoast Society for Vascular Ultrasound and Twin Cities Vascular Society for their contributions to our Chapters Breakfast in San Diego. The breakfast will be Friday morning, June 6, in Room 17B on the Mezzanine Level in the San Diego Convention Center. We hope to see a good turnout of Chapter officers as well as representative members of the various Chapters. Technologists interested in joining their area’s chapter or interested in forming a new chapter are welcome to meet and gain insight from established Chapter members. Chapter members are asked to put their thinking caps on and present ideas and comments on how we can strengthen our Chapters’ family.

Chapter Updates

The leadership of the Chapters Subcommittee is interested in hearing from you regarding your chapter meetings and events. This information is placed in our Chapters News column in the monthly e-Spectrum newsletter. The information alerts other chapters what you are doing and gives them ideas for meeting topics. It also is recognition of the hard work each chapter does in providing your members with continuing education and much needed information regarding the vascular technology profession. Information can be sent to Jeanette Flannery at jeflannery@sbhcs.com or Koko at parkm@ccf.org. We look forward to hearing from all our chapters. Thanks. Hope to see you in San Diego.