The congress of the Portuguese Society of Pulmonology (SPP), which took place between 12 and 14 November, in virtual format, counted with a strong participation of pulmonologists from several units of Hospital da Luz and Hospital Beatriz Ângelo (HBA) , who presented eight studies – three of which on COVID-19 –, besides moderating debates and providing training sessions. Pulmonology is one of the most requested specialties in the current COVID-19 pandemics and the approach of this disease was one of the topics highlighted during the national congress of specialists in the area. “Even in the present context of high demand for our professionals, due to the pandemic, we were able to elaborate several studies, one of which distinguished in the congress”, stresses Sofia Tello Furtado , the director of HBA and Hospital da Luz Lisboa Services of Pulmonology, in this case referring to the SPP Young Specialists distinction, bestowed to Mónica Grafino , for her work “Predictive factors in the diagnosis of COPD according to gender”. Hypoxia, non-invasive ventilation (NIV), invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis were other topics of oral communications and scientific posters presented by Hospital da Luz and HBA specialists. It was up to Sofia Tello Furtado to moderate the debate about the studies in the scope of COVID-19 and pulmonary interstitium, while Margarida Felizardo moderated the working committee of the congress that analysed the impact of SARS-CoV-2 in the treatment of patients with lung cancer. As for Susana Clemente , she participated in the group of experts of SPP that elaborated the “Recommendations to resume the activity of respiratory rehabilitation units during the mitigation stage of COVID-19 infection”. Main conclusions of the studies with COVID patients at HBA and Hospital da Luz It was up to Francisco Neri to present the study “The importance of obstructive pulmonary diseases in the prognosis of covid-19 patients” . This work concluded that the existence of an obstructive pulmonary disease (asthma or COPD) does not represent a risk factor of worse results (in terms of mortality or the need of intensive care, IMV and oxygen therapy). However, it should be noticed that the sample of HBA patients was too small to draw more robust conclusions. “The role of non-invasive ventilation (NIV) and CPAP in covid-19 patients: the experience of Hospital Beatriz Ângelo” was presented by Catarina Custódio. It was concluded that, in spite of the initial controversy, everything indicates that NIV/CPAP have an important role in managing the respiratory insufficiency caused by this disease, even in older people and patients with more concurrent diseases, and should be applied by well-prepared multidisciplinary teams. Finally, in “The weight of obesity in covid-19 patients” , presented by Sofia Silva, it was established that the obese people analysed in the sample registered slightly higher rates of mortality, admission to intensive care units, need of NIV and IMV, in line with what has been concluded in international scientific studies, in the sense that obesity predisposes to higher severity and mortality due to COVID-19.
