Reproducibility and Repeatability in Focus: Evaluating LVEF Measurements with 3D Echocardiography by Medical Technologists.

Three-dimensional echocardiography (3DE) is currently the preferred method for monitoring left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) in cancer patients receiving potentially cardiotoxic anti-neoplastic therapy. In Denmark, however, the traditional standard for LVEF monitoring has been rooted in nuclear medicine departments utilizing equilibrium radionuclide angiography (ERNA). Although ERNA remains a principal modality, there is an emerging trend towards the adoption of echocardiography for this purpose.

In Vitro Angiogenesis Inhibition and Endothelial Cell Growth and Morphology.

A co-culture assay with human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and normal human dermal fibroblasts (NHDFs) was used to study whether selected angiogenesis inhibitors were able to inhibit differentiation and network formation of HUVECs in vitro. The effect of the inhibitors was determined by the morphology and the calculated percentage area covered by HUVECs. Neutralizing VEGF with avastin and polyclonal goat anti-VEGF antibody and inhibiting VEGFR2 with sorafenib and vatalanib resulted in the formation of HUVEC clusters of variable sizes as a result of inhibited EC differentiation.