Respiration Day

The Respiration Day 2010 was held on 28 May at the Auditorium Paganini of Parma and was dedicated to the theme: “Health Outcomes in asthma and COPD patients: from randomised trials to clinical practice”. The problem this year is related to the applicability of the results of randomised controlled trials in daily clinical practice.

Maurizio Vignola Award for Innovation in Pneumology

The 2010 edition of the prize was awarded to Prof. Bart Lambrecht (Ghent University, Belgium) for an article, published on the April 2009 issue of Nature Medicine (impact factor 28.5 ), entitled “House dust mite allergen b asthma via Toll like receptor 4 triggering of airway structural cells”.

Study of the role of the small airways in COPD chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

In the course of 2010 we have activated interesting research projects in pneumological field. In particular we have started a three-year collaboration with the Center for Research on asthma and COPD (broncho chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) from the University of Ferrara. The project is devoted to the study of the inflammation in obstructive disease, the report structure-function in basic stable and modifications in the course of exacerbation, mechanisms, pharmacological modulation and prevention. With particular assessment on the involvement of the airway devices.

International Study asthma-COPD (broncho chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)

The Chiesi Foundation has conducted research to verify the lived and the needs of patients with asthma and COPD (broncho chronic obstructive pulmonary disease).  The survey was carried out, in 2009, in 5 European countries and involved about 1750 patients. The results of this study were presented during the last annual congress of the European Respiratory Society, which was held in September 2010 in Barcelona and are the subject of an article that is about to be subjected to a scientific journal peer-reviewed. These results also represent a very important starting point for new projects dedicated to improving the quality of life of these patients.

Publications

In the field of dissemination of scientific knowledge, in 2010 we have funded two publications and the organization of a conference:

 “50 Years of pneumology in Parma”, a volume that collects many of the articles published in the journal respiratory European Respiratory News and that concentrates documents, photos and articles concerning the beginnings and the first decades of development of the discipline till today.

 “Elements of assessment and functional diagnostics of the respiratory apparatus”, Cogo – Contoli. Aim of this text is to provide a tool for rapid consultation that clarifies the essential elements for the implementation and interpretation of tests of respiratory function based strictly on the information provided by international guidelines.

 “First European Conference LAM” organised by the Italian Association Linfangioleiomiomatosi in October in Udine. Objectives of the project have been raising awareness of the medical profession with the pathology and the exchange of information and updates between patients at international level.