title: The Probability of Inconstancy in Assessment of Cardiac Function Post-Myocardial Infarction in Mice.
abstract: In the present study, we explore the inherent variability that leads to overlaps in cardiac functional parameters between control and post-myocardial infarction (MI) mice. Heart failure was induced by Left Coronary Artery (LCA) ligation in mice. Average Ejection Fraction (EF) measured by echocardiography was lower in MI mice compared to control, but exhibited higher Standard Deviation (SD) and Standard Error (SEM), notably in 2D mode. Fractional Shortening (FS) showed a higher degree of overlap between MI and control mice even though the mean values were significantly different. Hemodynamic measurements of EF resulted in greater SD, SEM, ± 95% confidence intervals, and effect size. In comparing echocardiography at different time points, EF and FS were consistent by mean, but had apparent fluctuation in individual tracks, which were more obvious in MI than control mice. Hemodynamic measurements showed more complexity in data collection in micein vivo. MI size showed variability that correlated with severity of cardiac function. These studies show that there is inherent variability in functional cardiac parameters after induction of heart failure by MI in mice. Analysis of these parameters by traditional statistical methods is insufficient, and we propose a more robust statistical analysis for proper data interpretation.
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Research Center, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Jiqiu
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Research Center, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Nadjib
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hammoudi
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Research Center, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Ludovic
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Benard
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Research Center, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Delaine K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Ceholski
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Research Center, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Shihong
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Research Center, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Djamel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lebeche
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Research Center, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Roger J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Hajjar
keywords: Echocardiography; Heart failure; Hemodynamics; Myocardial infarction; Statistics