Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2020 Oct 13;6(4):00304-2020.
doi: 10.1183/23120541.00304-2020. eCollection 2020 Oct.

ERS International Congress, Madrid, 2019: highlights from the Pulmonary Vascular Diseases Assembly

Sheila Ramjug  1 , Jason Weatherald  2   3 , Sandeep Sahay  4 , Johad Khoury  5 , Vasile Foris  6   7 , Nagaraj Chandran  6   7 , Aleksandar Bokan  8 , Laurent Godinas  9 , Marion Delcroix  9
Affiliations
Review

ERS International Congress, Madrid, 2019: highlights from the Pulmonary Vascular Diseases Assembly

Sheila Ramjug et al. ERJ Open Res. .

Abstract

The 2019 European Respiratory Society (ERS) International Congress, held in Madrid, Spain, had exciting sessions regarding the field of pulmonary vascular disease. The symposia related to the new ERS/European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Guidelines for the diagnosis and management of acute pulmonary embolism were well received, as were sessions on pulmonary hypertension related to lung disease, demonstrating the concept of pulmonary hypertension not being the rarity that it was previously thought to be. The use of risk stratification in relation to pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) was heavily featured and the scientific sessions informing the respiratory community of potential biomarkers and targets for future therapies were thought-provoking. This article discusses highlights of the 2019 pulmonary vascular disease sessions as a summary of current knowledge and practice. We have summarised the key points from the sessions pertaining to the new ERS/ESC Guidelines for the management of acute pulmonary embolism. We have also focused on prognostic factors and potential therapies in pulmonary hypertension related to interstitial lung disease. Relating to PAH, we have reviewed the symposia on risk stratification, along with the use of noninvasive measures and the sessions relating to biomarkers in PAH.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: S. Ramjug reports nonfinancial support from Janssen, and grants and nonfinancial support from Actelion, during the writing of the manuscript. Conflict of interest: J. Weatherald reports grants, personal fees and nonfinancial support from Janssen Inc. and Actelion, personal fees and nonfinancial support from Bayer, personal fees from Novartis, and grants from the Alberta Lung Association, the Canadian Vascular Network, the European Respiratory Society and the Canadian Thoracic Society, outside the submitted work. Conflict of interest: S. Sahay reports personal fees and nonfinancial support from Bayer Pharmaceuticals, United Therapeutics, Actelion Pharmaceuticals, and Liquidia. Conflict of interest: J. Khoury has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: V. Foris has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: N. Chandran has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: A. Bokan has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: L. Godinas has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: M. Delcroix reports grants and personal fees from Actelion, and personal fees from Bayer, GSK, MSD, Reata, Bellarophon and Eli Lilly, outside the submitted work.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Diagnostic algorithm for patients with suspected pulmonary embolism (PE) without haemodynamic instability. CTPA: computed tomography pulmonary angiography. Reproduced and modified from [1] with permission.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Risk-adjusted management strategy for acute pulmonary embolism (PE). RV: right ventricular; TTE: transthoracic echocardiography; CTPA: computed tomography pulmonary angiography; PESI: Pulmonary Embolism Severity Index; sPESI: simplified Pulmonary Embolism Severity Index. Reproduced and modified from [1] with permission.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Diagnostic work-up and management of suspected pulmonary embolism (PE) during pregnancy and up to 6 weeks post-partum. LMWH: low-molecular-weight heparin; DVT: deep vein thrombosis; CTPA: computed tomography pulmonary angiography. Reproduced and modified from [1] with permission.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Follow-up strategy and diagnostic work-up for long-term sequelae of pulmonary embolism (PE). TTE: transthoracic echocardiography; PH: pulmonary hypertension; CTEPH: chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension; NT-proBNP: N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide; CPET: cardiopulmonary exercise test; V′/Q′: ventilation/perfusion. Reproduced and modified from [1] with permission.
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
Evaluation of pulmonary hypertension (PH) in chronic lung disease (CLD). LD: lung disease; FEV1: forced expiratory volume in 1 s; FVC: forced vital capacity; CT: computed tomography; PAH: pulmonary arterial hypertension; RCT: randomised controlled trial. Reproduced and modified from [31] with permission.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Konstantinides SV, Meyer G, Becattini C, et al. 2019 ESC Guidelines for the diagnosis and management of acute pulmonary embolism developed in collaboration with the European Respiratory Society (ERS). Eur Respir J 2019; 54: 1901647. doi: 10.1183/13993003.01647-2019 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Righini M, Van Es J, Den Exter PL, et al. Age-adjusted D-dimer cutoff levels to rule out pulmonary embolism: the ADJUST-PE study. JAMA 2014; 311: 1117–1124. doi: 10.1001/jama.2014.2135 - DOI - PubMed
    1. van der Hulle T, Cheung WY, Kooij S, et al. Simplified diagnostic management of suspected pulmonary embolism (the YEARS study): a prospective, multicentre, cohort study. Lancet 2017; 390: 289–297. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(17)30885-1 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Barco S, Mahmoudpour SH, Planquette B, et al. Prognostic value of right ventricular dysfunction or elevated cardiac biomarkers in patients with low-risk pulmonary embolism: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Eur Heart J 2019; 40: 902–910. doi: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehy873 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Howard LSGE, Barden S, Condliffe R, et al. British Thoracic Society Guideline for the initial outpatient management of pulmonary embolism (PE). Thorax 2018; 73: Suppl. 2, ii1–ii29. doi: 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2018-211539 - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources