Bulletin Spring‧Summer, 2008

Research Clinical Pharmacy Services Reduce Risk of Coronary Heart Disease T o evaluate whether clinical pharmacy services can benefit the treatment outcomes of hyperlipidaemia and reduce the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), a 24-month study was conducted by the School of Pharmacy. During the period, a total of 300 patients with high lipid profiles and difficulty in controlling lipid levels were recruited and divided into intervention and control groups. In the former group, apart from routine physician care, patients attended educational clinic visits conducted by a clinical pharmacist. At the end of the study period, the intervention group achieved much more mean reduction in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, total cholesterol and triglyceride levels respectively, compared to the control group. Prof. Lee Wing-yan Vivian, assistant professor, School of Pharmacy, pointed out that following pharmacist intervention, patients achieved a 30–45% reduction in the risk of CHD, compared to 10–15% in the control group. New Technique for Evaluating Patients for Epilepsy Surgery I t is estimated that at least 30,000 people in Hong Kong suffer from epilepsy. In 30% of the sufferers, anti-epileptic drugs cannot control epilepsy. Some of these sufferers may benefit from epilepsy surgery which removes the brain tissues responsible for causing the seizures. Doctors from the Faculty of Medicine now apply a new method called intracranial EEG monitoring to locate the origin of the seizure before performing surgery. The sophisticated method involves an operation to place electrodes on the brain surface or in the brain substance. In addition, doctors can use these intracranial electrodes to 'map' brain areas with important functions, such as body movement and language, so that these areas will not be removed in the operation. Research   51