You will be asked to donate blood when you have your right heart catheterization and also at the 3-4 month follow-up visit. The amount of blood collected during your heart catheterization is about 20cc (about 4 teaspoons). This blood is discarded as part of the clinical catheterization procedure, but we are asking that we use it for this research study. Then, at the follow-up right heart catheterization, you will be asked to donate 20 cc (which is about 4 teaspoons) of blood.
If the second right heart is not required for clinical purposes then you will be asked to give a blood sample during your 3-4 month follow up clinic visit.
If you require an additional right heart catheterization, within one year, we will ask that you donate additional samples at the subsequent RHC.
Other data collected as part of your clinical care, such as medical history, chest x-ray (picture of your lungs), echocardiogram (picture of your heart), ventilation perfusion scan (determines how much blood goes to your lungs), chest CT (thin pictures of my lungs as slices), pulmonary function tests (breathing tests), and lab blood tests, will be used as part of this research.
