Dear MSO members,

We have some exciting updates to share in this edition of the MSO Express! First off, we would like to highlight the remarkable work of Dr Liew On Heong, who has recently started offering cornea services in Sabah since 2020.  Dr Liew has been actively performing various advanced procedures, including Penetrating Keratoplasty (PK),  Anterior Lamellar Keratoplasty, and Endothelial Keratoplasty (EK). His dedication to providing top-notch care in the field of cornea services is commendable. Sabah is blessed to have cornea services lead by Dr Liew.

In other news, we are thrilled to report on the successful annual Paediatric Ophthalmology Conference - Borneo Ophthalmology Update (APOC-BOU) 2023, which recently took place in Sabah. This conference was spearheaded by the conference chairman, Dr Mohamad Israk bin Mohamad Isa, who led a team of exceptional paediatric ophthalmologists. We extend our heartfelt congratulations to Dr Mohamad Israk bin Mohamad Isa and his team for organizing such a remarkable event.

ARTICLES

CORNEAL TRANSPLANT-JOURNEY IN THE NORTH OF BORNEO-SABAH! 

The first corneal transplant in Sabah was successfully performed by a four-man Royal New Zealand Ophthalmic team led by Wing Commander, Dr Randall Elliot back in 1965. A total of six corneas were sourced from Tokyo and Wellington to support the six corneal transplant operations in Sabah. Patients were all in satisfactory condition post-operatively under the care of the renowned local consultant ophthalmologist, Dr Edward Richard Dingley.

Dr Peter Kong Vui Yin, the vitreoretinal surgeon in Synergy Specialist Eye Centre and Dr Sheena Mary Alexander, the current Head of Ophthalmology Department of Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) had done two corneal transplants each before the year of 2005 in QEH, Sabah. There had been no corneal transplants since then until the set-up of corneal service led by the one and only cornea consultant in Sabah - Dr Liew On Heong!

Dr Liew OH completed his cornea fellowship and came back to Sabah in 2020. It was indeed a challenging mission to start from scratch. The corneal clinic appointment system, corneal surgery waiting list and corneal clinic arrangement were set up in QEH, Sabah. Dr Liew managed to assemble the corneal transplant instruments and sets – penetrating keratoplasty (PK) set in 2020 and the anterior lamellar keratoplasty (ALK)/endothelial keratoplasty (EK) sets in 2021.

ANNUAL PAEDIATRIC OPHTHALMOLOGY CONFERENCE-BORNEO OPHTHALMOLOGY UPDATE (APOC-BOU) 2023

The Annual Paediatric Ophthalmology Conference (APOC) with the theme of “Challenges in Paediatric Ophthalmology” was successfully conducted in conjunction with the Borneo Ophthalmology Update (BOU) in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah from 1st to 3rd June 2023. The conference was attended by 164 participants which included 42 ophthalmologists and 14 optometrists over the 3-day conference held at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Science, Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) and Hospital Wanita dan Kanak-Kanak Sabah (HWKKS).

This meeting, chaired by Dr Mohamad Israk bin Mohamad Isa (Head of Ophthalmology Department, HWKKS) brought together renowned paediatric ophthalmologists from the whole of Malaysia and prominent leaders in ophthalmology which included Datuk Dr Hajjah Nor Fariza Ngah (former National Head of Ophthalmology Services, current Deputy Director, Ministry of Health in Research and Technical Support), Prof Dr Shuaibah Ab Ghani (Head of Ophthalmology Department, UMS), Dr Jamalia Rahmat (Advisor to sub-speciality Paediatric Ophthalmology & Strabismus KKM), Dr Sheena Mary Alexander (Head of Ophthalmology Service Sabah) and Prof Dr Shatriah Ismail from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM).

The conference encompassed both exciting scientific programmes including orthoptic workshop and live surgery as well as ongoing social programmes. Opening speeches by Prof Shuaibah Ab Ghani and Datuk Dr Hajjah Nor Fariza Ngah kicked off the conference. The event was then officiated by Prof Dr Mohammad Saffree bin Jeffree, dean of Faculty of Medicine and Health Science, UMS.