It was a very early start to the day for all attending the Breast Ultrasound Workshop, one of the Precongress workshops of the 1st KL International Breast and Colorectal Cancer Congress (9-11 Aug 2007). A chartered bus helped to ferry the participants from the KL Convention Centre (where the main conference was being held) to Hospital Putrajaya, Putrajaya. As there was to be hands-on sessions, the number of participants had to be limited.

The workshop began with a series of lectures: How Things Work in Ultrasound, Dos and Don’ts in Breast Ultrasound – How to perform a good ultrasound of the breast, Imaging and Pathologic correlation of malignant and benign masses, Intervention in the Breast and Advances in Breast Imaging. Practical tips and tricks were imparted as was the fundamental physics of ultrasound, without which, it would be difficult to interpret images as well as use the ultrasound equipment optimally.

The hands-on sessions were breast ultrasound (diagnostic) on volunteer patients, use of various types of needles for biopsy (tissue sampling), vacuum assisted biopsy equipment as well as technique of aspiration and slide preparation for cytology samples. Radiologists, pathologists and surgeons were present to facilitate, demonstrate and guide the hands on sessions.

The venue for the lectures and hands-on workshop was Hospital Putrajaya and the venue coordinators were the Department of Breast and Endocrine Surgery, Department of Radiology and Department of Pathology. The invited speakers were Prof Dr Malai Muttarak from the University of Chiengmai, Thailand, Prof Dr A. Zulfiqar from Hospital University Kebangsaan Malaysia, Prof Dr KH Ng from University of Malaya Medical Centre, Dr Evelyn Ho – President of the College of Radiology Academy of Medicine of Malaysia and invited Radiologists (Facilitators) included Dr Vijayalakshmi Krishnapillai, Dr Shantini Arasaratnam (both from Hospital Kuala Lumpur) and A/Prof Dr Yang Faridah from University Malaya Medical Centre.

The event was organised by the Malaysian Oncological Society in collaboration with the College of Radiology Academy of Medicine of Malaysia and the Hospital Putrajaya’s Breast and Endocrine Unit under the leadership of Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

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