Annual Congress Munich 2006

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PG13 - COPD: from aetiology to management

Postgraduate Course
Chairs: B. Balbi (Veruno, Italy), D. S. Postma (Groningen, The Netherlands)
Aims: This is the first course in a three-year postgraduate core curriculum covering the main issues on COPD: from the disease definition to epidemiological issues and risk factors, including the genetic background; from pathology and pathogenesis to the role of primary care in the diagnosis and management of COPD. The aims of this first module in the series are:
• to review and discuss problems in disease definition and set the stage for aetiological and clinical assessment;
• to understand the weight from an epidemiological and social point of view of COPD;
• to review the theories on the risk factors for COPD and the interplay between them and the genetic background;
• to describe the pathology and the current views of the mechanisms of pathogenesis
• to discuss the role of primary relative to secondary care in patient management. Target audience: Trainees, chest physicians, primary care practitioners, others interested in COPD.

Introduction to COPD: terminology and aetiology B. Balbi (Veruno, Italy)
Epidemiology of COPD: social burden and trends for the future P. Bakke (Bergen, Norway)
Risk factors and gene-environment interaction D. Lomas (Cambridge, United Kingdom)
Pathogenesis, molecular and cellular features M. Luisetti (Pavia, Italy)
Initial diagnosis of COPD: the role of primary care and when to refer M. Levy (Middlesex, United Kingdom)