The purpose of the study is to generate a bio bank of specimens for research. We will tissue that would otherwise be discarded from clinical or surgical procedure and information from medical records. We will also collect discarded blood, urines and sputum. Collecting samples will help to better understanding the mechanisms of cardiovascular diseases, identify biomarkers for early diagnosis and to predict safety and efficacy of new therapies.

INVESTED is a multi-site trial comparing high-dose (60 μg per vaccine viral strain) trivalent influenza vaccine to standard-dose (15 μg per viral strain) quadrivalent influenza vaccination for up to three influenza seasons in high-risk cardiovascular disease patients with a history of myocardial infarction in the previous 12 months OR history of heart failure hospitalization in the previous 24 months. Subjects will be randomly assigned to receive either the high-dose or standard-dose vaccine.

Heart disease can be detected in the hospital by Cardiac Magnetic Resonance (CMR)- a device that uses a large magnet. CMR is used to test how healthy the heart muscle is and how well the heart is pumping. We will test a new method to see how helpful it is to quickly get good pictures and if this is useful for testing the health of heart muscle in patients with heart disease.

Patients diagnosed with an enlarged aorta (aneurysm) or separation of the layers of the aorta (dissection) can suffer complications. The purpose of this study is to determine the levels of proteins and their effects on the aortic tissue wall.