CHEST: American College of Chest Physicians Annual Meeting

Ajay Sheshadri, MD, discusses the advantages of attending CHEST 2023 in person and how these benefits can inspire positive change even after the conference ends.

The CHEST Annual Meeting 2023 will take place in Honolulu, Hawai‘i, from October 8-11, as pulmonologists and researchers from a multitude of specialties convene to discuss pressing topics, including the role of air pollution in lung health.

The latest updates in lung cancer screening guidelines will help address disparities in certain populations, but multiple barriers including access to programs and payer coverage remain issues.

Arianne Baldomero, MD, MS, a pulmonologist in the Veterans Health Administration, discusses findings of a study looking at chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) disease management for veterans in rural areas.

Urban areas face a concentration of various pollutants that will be exacerbated by the increasing temperatures caused by climate change, and low-income residents likely have fewer resources to withstand negative health impacts, according to Emily Brigham, MD, MHS, of the University of British Columbia.

Youths and young adults are the target demographic of sleek, colorful e-cigarette devices with flavorful nicotine.

Martin Runnström, MD, a fourth-year fellow at the Emory University School of Medicine, describes a study he presented at CHEST 2022 showing a reduced response to a 2-dose immunization series for SARS-CoV-2 among patients using biologics to treat severe asthma or atopic dermatitis.

In the Roger C. Bone Memorial Lecture in Critical Care at CHEST 2022, E. Wesley Ely, MD, MPH, of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, highlights the need for humanism in the intensive care unit and how the COVID-19 pandemic destroyed what had been built up.

As understanding of COVID-19 evolves and more evidence on treatments emerges, making sense of it can be a challenge for physicians.

Some atopic diseases affect asthma outcomes more than others, said Basil Kahwash, MD, an assistant professor of medicine on the clinical educator track in the Department of Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, who spoke at CHEST 2022.

There are several closely watched randomized trials examining catheter-directed therapies for acute pulmonary embolism, according to Parth Rali, MD, an associate professor of thoracic medicine and surgery at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine and director of the Temple University Health System Pulmonary Embolism Response Team.

One poster found patients with uncontrolled asthma had improved outcomes after escalating to triple therapy, while the other found a substantial portion of patients adherent to a dual therapy reported not having controlled asthma.

While more research is needed, obesity does play a role in the response to viral infections as well as immunizations, said Kara Dupuy-McCauley, MD, a pulmonologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

The first 5 minutes of a patient’s visit with a doctor can help improve communication and build more trusting relationships, explained panelists during a session on lung health disparities in America at CHEST 2022.

As with many medical meetings, some of the presentations from the annual American College of Chest Physicians event will be livestreamed or on demand for later viewing, but the organizers have stressed the importance of coming together for the first time since 2019.

CHEST 2022 is being held in Nashville, Tennessee, beginning October 16, and Subani Chandra, MD, FCCP, the chair of the Scientific Program Committee, discusses why meeting in real life as opposed to virtually is energizing, even if medical conferences are hectic.

There are currently no FDA-approved treatments for refractory chronic cough or unexplained chronic cough. At the CHEST Annual Meeting 2021, attendees heard a readout from a durability study as well as pooled analyses from 2 phase 3 trials for gefapixant.

Evan L. Stepp, MD, FCCP, CPE, a pulmonologist at National Jewish Health, discusses an apparent change in attitudes among patients in the wake of 2019’s e-cigarette or vaping use–associated lung injury (EVALI) crisis.

There has been a huge shift forward in the understanding of innate and adaptive immune mechanisms that provoke type 2 inflammation in atopic disease and eosinophilic esophagitis, according to a CHEST Annual Meeting 2021 speaker.

Paradoxical bronchospasm, although rare, should be recognized more often in spirometry tests, said pulmonologist Malvika Kaul, MD, who discussed study findings from a population of veterans with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma, where the possibly life-threatening condition was not picked up in lung tests.

Nicole Herbst, MD, a pulmonary and critical care fellow, talks about how visitor restrictions and communication practices in intensive care units (ICUs) during the COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted provider job satisfaction and were linked to job burnout, according to a survey presented at the CHEST Annual Meeting 2021.

A panel discussion at the CHEST Annual Meeting 2021 discussed disparities related to race, ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status that have been shown to impact access to high-quality lung cancer care.

At a session of the CHEST Annual Meeting 2021, specialists reviewed the need for a thorough diagnosis to tell whether a patient's symptoms are caused by asthma or another pulmonary condition.

Researchers at the CHEST Annual Meeting 2021 addressed the evolution of COVID-19 variants, how these emerging strains impact vaccines, and preventive recommendations for at-risk populations.

There are several reasons as to why precision therapeutics have not taken off for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in the same way that they have for other diseases, said Don Sin, MD, FRCP, MPH, a professor of respiratory medicine at the University of British Columbia and head of the Centre of Heart Lung Innovation, St. Paul’s Hospital.

Panelists of a session at CHEST 2021 discuss the latest research regarding efficacy and safety of therapies in the management of asthma, including biologics, corticosteroids, and more.

Evan L. Stepp, MD, FCCP, CPE, a pulmonologist at National Jewish Health, director of the Highlands Ranch Clinic, and an assistant professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, discussed the recent FDA decision to authorize an e-cigarette intended to help current smokers quit combustible cigarettes.

Mariam Lewis, MD, FCCP, a pulmonologist at UF Health and the UF College of Medicine, discusses why women are more sensitive to the effects of tobacco.

Don Sin, MD, FRCP, MPH, who is presenting at CHEST 2021 on the topic of precision medicine and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, discusses other topics of interest at CHEST 2021, which takes place virtually from October 17 to October 20, 2021.

Compared with conferences held a year ago at this time, when vaccines were not yet available and the United States had yet to hit the peak of the pandemic, there are now more data to discuss about what we know and do not know about COVID-19.