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ACHIEVEMENTS I N HAEMATOLOGY/ONCOLOG Y Haematology as a subspecialty of Medicine has emerged fro m a difficul t perio d triumphantl y due to the leadership of Professor Todd . While in Unite d Kingdom , haematolog y move d to wards being a strong laboratory discipline with only a moderate amount of clinical commitments; here in Hong Kong, we remained an important and distinc t divisio n i n Medicin e an d Labora tory Haematology was allowed to develop fully in Pathology. Although amalgamation of the two activities int o a Departmen t o f Haematolog y could be possible, it would have been detrimental to both Departments concerned. As it is, the two divisions in Haematology collaborated fully. While almost all special haematology tests were done in Medicine at the beginning of this period, we are now only responsible for cytogenetics of haemic malignanc y an d radionuclide s i n diag nostic haematology. This change has allowed us to channe l resource s t o researc h an d develop ment work and accounted fo r our success during this period. Furthermore, with the work load of a clinicia n haematologis t shifte d largel y t o management o f haemi c malignanc y an d bon e marrow transplantation , Haematology/Oncol ogy should best be entrenched in Medicine and there will be less pressure for us to change in the future. Staff: Al l teachin g staf f an d mos t rotatio n registrars have general medical as well as haematology /oncology servic e duties. Professor D Todd continued t o contribute to clinical service and research despite heavy administrative commitments as Head of Department. Other medical staff are: Professor T.K. Chan, Professor S.C. Tso (resigned in 1985), Dr. Ronald Ng (moved to Singapore in 1983), Dr. Raymond H.S. Liang (since 1985), and Dr. Edmond K.W. Chiu (since 1988). We were assisted by rotation registrars as well as elective trainees from paediatrics , gynaecolog y and radiotherapy. Dr. Vivian Chan, the only biochemist in the Department, moved fro m Endo crinology t o Haematology ; initiall y becaus e of the application of radioimmunoassay t o coagulation factors and work on cell culture. Later, she established the DNA laboratory and applied recombinant DNA technology to the study of thalassaemias , haemophilia s an d haemi c malig nancy . This has given a great boost to research activities of the haematology team. Clinical Services : Haematology/Oncolog y services have expanded to three outpatient sessions (Lymphoma, Leukaemia and Blood), three chemotherapy clinics and one special blood clinic (for Haemophiliacs an d Cooley' s anaemia) pe r week. Plasmapheresis an d cel l pheresis starte d by Dr . Ronal d N g becam e mor e organize d i n 1985 with a special nurs e i n the A 2 side roo m and Dr. K.L. Wong, our immunologist, has been mainly in charge of the 150 to 200 pheresis per annum. The haematology team supervises those patients requirin g th e procedur e fo r hypervis cosity and leucostasis. Blood'cases ar e accommodate d i n genera l medical wards and managed by the general ward clinical staff, we are required to provide regular attendance an d consultatio n fo r 2 0 to 40 inpatients , mostly with acute leukamia or lymphoma. Some facilities fo r isolatio n o f th e neutropeni c patients was introduced i n partitioned cubicle s in Wards A2 and E2. A proper reverse isolation unit with 11 rooms in J block extension of Queen Mary Hospital will be available in January, 1990 and bon e marrow transplantatio n wil l the n b e performed in Hong Kong. TJK. CHAN Research in Haematology Professor David Todd's inaugural lecture 'Genes, Beans & Marco Polo ' depict s tw o o f th e mai n areas of researc h i n Haematology. This centres on th e two mos t commo n geneti c disorder s i n this part of the world, namely, glucoses-phos phate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency and thalassemia . G6PD Deficiency G6PD deficienc y i s a n X-linke d inherite d condition which affects 4.66% of the Chinese adult males in Hong Kong. Of the three common variants foun d here , G6P D Hon g Kong-Pokfula m and G6PD B (-) Chinese are two novel variants isolated and characterized by Chan & Todd (1). In the steady state, G6PD deficient subjects were not anaemic...

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