News & Updates

QEH’s comprehensive heart failure programme reduces mortality and hospitalization

Heart failure (HF) has a 5-year mortality rate of >50 percent. Delays in diagnosis and initiation and uptitration of guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) remain significant gaps in HF management. In an interview with MIMS Doctor, Consultant Cardiologist Dr Michael Lee, Associate Consultant Cardiologist Dr Esmond Fong, and Cardiac Nurse Consultant Ms Cecilia Chan from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) shared a comprehensive inpatient and outpatient HF management programme run by a multidisciplinary team (MDT), which successfully improved hospitalization for HF (HHF)–free survival, reduced length of hospital stay, and improved other functional outcomes in local patients.

HK study: Intensive postdischarge treatment improves HF outcomes

The REDUCE-HF ambulatory ser­vice model of intensive treatment fol­lowing hospital discharge from acute heart failure (HF) is shown to improve patients’ outcomes at 3 months. 

Distinct comorbidity clusters in acute HF affect clinical outcomes

A study involving 6,545 patients with acute heart failure (HF) has revealed five distinct groups of naturally clustered comorbid­ities, with the poorest postdischarge outcomes observed in the group with diabetes and chronic kidney disease (CKD), followed by the metabolic group and the elderly/atrial fibrillation (AF) group. 

Low-dose morphine may do more harm than good for COPD patients with chronic breathlessness

Treatment with steady-state, low-dose morphine does not appear to improve sleep efficiency, sleep-disordered breathing frequency, or next-day alertness but may rather result in hypoventilation during sleep in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients with chronic breathlessness, according to the results of a randomized, double-anonymized, crossover trial.

First-line osimertinib plus chemotherapy further extends PFS in advanced EGFR-mutated NSCLC

The third-generation EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), osimertinib, is preferred over earlier-generation EGFR TKIs as the first-line agent in patients with advanced EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In an interview with MIMS Oncology, Dr James Ho, Specialist in Respiratory Medicine in Hong Kong, discussed the positive survival outcomes associated with first-line treatment with osimertinib plus chemotherapy together in patients with advanced EGFR-mutated NSCLC, and shared which patients may benefit from this upfront combination treatment strategy.

Protecting the vulnerable: The role of oral antivirals in COVID-19 management

At the Asia Vaccines and Antivirals Summit (AVAS) 2025 held in Bangkok, Thailand, two expert-led sessions provided valuable perspectives on the expanding role of oral antivirals in COVID-19 management. Dr Daniel Griffin, an infectious disease specialist and Clinical Instructor of Medicine at Columbia University, New York, US, focused on protecting high-risk populations through the timely use of antiviral therapy. Complementing this, Professor Ching-Tai Huang of Chang Gung University and Memorial Hospital in Taiwan offered practical guidance on clinical management strategies, including patient risk stratification and therapeutic selection.

Cough variant asthma: A diagnostic challenge with a simple solution

Multiple antibiotic exposures in early life may have long-term respiratory consequences

Preterm infants with multiple episodes of antibiotic exposure prenatally have a higher likelihood of having impaired lung function at early school age, as shown in a study.