Bulletin No. 2, 2020

Research   49  First 100 Successful Cases of Robotic Prostatectomy T he Un i v e r s i t y c e l eb r a t ed i n Ma y 2010 i t s m i l e s t o n e o f 100 successful cases of robotic prostatectomy since the introduction of the robotic surgery programme to Hong Kong by CUHK in 2005. A clinical study was conducted in 2008 to compare the outcomes of robotic prostatectomy and traditional open surgery. In the robotic group, the blood transfusion rate was significantly lower, the mean hospital stay shorter, as so was the mean catheter time. All of these facilitate early mobilization and reduce postoperative morbidity. Genetic Marker Identified to Predict End-stage Renal Disease P rof. Ronald Ma (right), associate professor, and Dr. So Wing-yee (left), clinical assistant professor (honorary) of the Department of Medicine and Therapeutics discovered that protein kinase C beta-1 (PRKCB1) is important to the development of diabetic complications. They successfully identified several markers within the PRKCB1 gene that can predict the risk of end-stage renal disease in diabetic patients, thus reducing the risks of progression to more severe forms of kidney disease from 50% to 70% if managed under a structured intensive treatment programme. The research has followed up on a group of 1,172 patients with diabetes for an average of eight years, during which 90 progressed to end-stage renal disease. These findings have been published in the August 2010 issue of Journal of the American Medical Association . (From left) Prof. Ng Kwok- wai Enders, director, CUHK Jockey Club Minimally Invasive Surgical Skills Centre; Prof. Charles Andrew van Hasselt; Prof. Fok Tai-fai; Dr. Leong Che-hung; Ms. Florine Tang; Prof. Li Kam-tao Philip; Prof. Lai Bo-san Paul, chairman, Department of Surgery, CUHK and Prof. Yip Kam-hung Sidney, head of Division of Urology, Department of Surgery, CUHK; hosting the cake- cutting ceremony