Annual Congress Copenhagen 2005

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PG18 - Inter-relationships between upper and lower airway diseases

Postgraduate Course
Chairs: R. Polosa (S Gregorio Di Catania, Italy), G. Canonica (Genoa, Italy)
Aims: More than 80% of patients with asthma also have chronic inflammation of the upper airways, and sinonasal disease is a common cause of difficult-to-control asthma. There has been much progress in understanding the interrelationships between the upper and lower airways over the last few decades. This course will review the mechanisms by which the nose influences the lower airways and vice versa. Physical, neural influences and immunological mechanisms will be discussed, and the therapeutic implications of this interaction will be outlined. At the conclusion of the course, participants will be able to:
• recognise comorbidity of the nose and lung in clinical practice;
• define the basic mechanisms of the nose-lung interaction;
• identify current and future therapies for combined asthma and rhinitis.

The link between upper and lower respiratory disease R. Polosa (S Gregorio Di Catania, Italy)
The nose, the lung and the bone marrow in allergic inflammation J. A. Denburg (Hamilton, Canada)
Clinical and biochemical differences between patients with aspirin-induced asthma/rhinitis B. Dahlen (Stockholm, Sweden)
Biological and therapeutic implications of the united airways disease concept G. J. Braunstahl (Rotterdam, The Netherlands)