title: Techniques of assessing hypoxia at the bench and bedside.
abstract: Tissues require an adequate supply of oxygen in order to maintain normal cell function. Low oxygen tension (hypoxia) is characteristic of a number of conditions, including cancer, atherosclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, critical limb ischaemia, peripheral vascular disease, and ischaemic heart disease. Tissue hypoxia is found in tumours, atherosclerotic plaque, and ischaemic myocardium. There is a growing interest in methods to detect and assess hypoxia, given that hypoxia is important in the progression of these diseases. Hypoxia can be assessed at the level of the whole organ, tissue, or cell, using both invasive and non-invasive methods, and by a range of immunohistochemical, biochemical, or imaging techniques. This review describes and critiques current methods of assessing hypoxia that are used at the bench and in clinical practice.
authors.affiliation: Academic Department of Surgery, St Thomas' Hospital, King's College London, BHF Centre of Research Excellence and NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at King's Health Partners, London, UK. colin.e.evans@kcl.ac.uk
authors.forename: C E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Evans
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mattock
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Humphries
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Saha
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ahmad
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Waltham
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Modarai
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Porter
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Premaratne
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D020811:Biomedical Technology / Q000379:methods*; D015687:Cell Hypoxia; D006801:Humans; D000860:Hypoxia / Q000175:diagnosis*