Correlations between cellular-level contractile properties and echocardiographic-based measurements of cardiac function in organ donors and patients with heart failure

Clinical work-ups for patients with heart failure often use echocardiography to measure dimensions of the heart and assess cardiac function. Commonly reported parameters include ejection fraction and fractional shortening. Basic scientists can also use permeabilized myocardial preparations to measure cellular-level contraction. These experiments provide insight into the molecular mechanisms that regulate myocardial contraction and can be impaired in disease. Few studies have compared echo-based measurements with myofilament-level properties measured using cells from the same patients.