Reported by Dr KS CHAN and Prof D Hui
The Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM) this year has been held successfully on 28th March 2004. Apart from a one-day scientific programme this time, there was no concurrent workshop for allied health professionals and free paper sessions. Instead, the programme was structured into 4 main sessions: clinical updates, update on avian flu, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lung cancer symposium. The management of pleural diseases was highlighted with the role of surgery (open or thoracoscopic approach) in different malignant and infective conditions. A comprehensive overview of the use of non-invasive positive pressure ventilation provided the audience with a clear perspective of this mode of ventilatory support in various clinical scenarios. Also, the Asian perspective of the future of tobacco epidemic was both educational and stimulating. Although SARS hopefully would not be a major threat to our community as in last year, the potential of having an outbreak of avian flu should not be underestimated. In this scientific meeting, there
was a special session on the epidemiology, clinical management, laboratory diagnosis, and recent Vietnam experience of avian flu. Among the long-standing respiratory diseases, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has become a common respiratory disease with increasing awareness, especially with the release of recently revised GOLD guideline. In a timely fashion, our overseas guest speaker lectured on
the recent development in the management of COPD, which was particularly relevant to our audience of practising physicians. Last but not least, the final session of the meeting was a lung cancer symposium, mainly focused on local epidemiologic trends, antioxidants, autofluorescence bronchoscopy, and chemotherapy treatment.