Poster Presentation:

Diltiazem for Reducing Heart Rate in Orthotopic Heart Transplant Patients during Coronary CT Angiography

Sunday, June 12, 2022

2:30pm - 3:30pm ET

In this session I would like to share my research findings from the use of diltiazem in the orthotopic heart transplant population to lower resting heart rates during coronary CT angiography. Improving image quality by reducing the heart rate can greatly assist the radiologist in identification of cardiac allograft vasculopathy, a condition involving a progressive luminal narrowing of the coronary vessels following heart transplantation.

Andrew Somers, MSN, RN, CRN

Nurse

Duke 

I received my MSN in nursing education in 2012 from Grand Canyon University.  I currently work at Duke University Medical Center in diagnostic interventional radiology. While here I have authored or co-authored several articles.

I feel truly blessed to have received several awards highlighting my work as a nurse. These include: 1) the Charlotte Godwin Award, 2) The Great 100 Nurses in North Carolina, and 3) the Janet H. Clapp Award for Excellence in Nursing Practice.

My love of academics and working in radiology for some 13 years has provided me, (to borrow our institution’s vision statement), the opportunity to discover, develop, and deliver a healthier tomorrow to our patients. 

Such was the opportunity when working with orthotopic heart transplant patients undergoing evaluations of coronary vessels in CT.