Organ Specific Blood Sample Collection for Advancing Research in Mechanisms of Human Disease

In this study, the Investigator at the University of Pennsylvania will assess organ-specific biomarker profiles (proteins and metabolites), in order to better understand biologic processes, the interplay between the heart and extracardiac organs, and their role in human disease, with an emphasis on cardiovascular disease. The study will specifically focus on the role of the liver, kidneys, lungs, and skeletal muscle, and their interactions with the heart as determinants of cardiovascular disease. This will be achieved by drawing arterial and venous blood from key organs among patients undergoing clinically-indicated cardiac catheterization or electrophysiological studies, who, therefore, already have the need for an invasive cannulation of central blood vessels for clinical purposes. This will allow us to collect bio-samples at no to minimal additional risk for study subjects.