Scientific Symposium
Hong Kong & Taiwan Multiple Sclerosis Forum
13 Jul 2019
13:00 - 17:30
The Mira Hotel
Speaker(s)
Prof. Regina Berkovich
University of South California
USA
Dr. Jacky Lee
HKMSS Council
Dr. Kai-Chen Wang
National Yang Ming University
Taiwan
Dr. Winnie Wong
HKMSS Council
Dr. Chih-Chao Yang
National Taiwan University Hospital
Taiwan
Dr. Stephen Cheng
HKMSS Council
On 13 Jul 2019, the HKMSS organized the ‘Hong Kong & Taiwan Multiple Sclerosis Forum’ at the Mira Hotel. The meeting was a novel collaboration between MS specialists from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau. We were also honored to have the presence of an overseas speak, Prof. Regina Berkovich from the University of South California, USA.
The meeting began with Prof. Berkovich giving us an update on ‘Current MS Treatment Goal’, during which she touched on the latest McDonald diagnostic criteria, and the performance of various DMT in achieving the new treatment goal of NEDA4. She also focused on the special concerns in Chinese patients in regards to neutralizing antibodies and the issues related to the JC virus. Dr. Jacky Lee from our council then gave us a detailed overview on ‘Assessment of Treatment Response’, with a focus on the correlation between NEDA and disability, and how brain volume loss links to disease progression.
Dr. Kai-Chen Wang from the National Yang Ming University of Taiwan and Dr. Winnie Wong, our immediate past president, then outlined the structure of MS care in Taiwan and Hong Kong respectively. Afterwards, Prof. Berkovich, Dr. Chih-Chao Yang from the National Taiwan University Hospital, and Dr. Stephen Cheng of our council each shared one difficult-to-manage case, which led to fruitful discussions in different management strategies from all our participants.
We would like to thank Prof. Berkovich, our guests from Taiwan and Macau, our council and local neurologists for making this novel collaboration a success!