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Despite that COPD remains one of the most common respiratory diseases worldwide, it can be managed effectively with certain treatments and, more importantly, be prevented by the early implementation of various measures. The pathology and pathophysiology of this disease continue to be studied, with new pharmacological and invasive therapies emerging. In this consensus paper, the Working Group of the Hellenic Thoracic Society aimed to consolidate the up-to-date information and new advances in the treatment of COPD. Local and international data on its prevalence are presented, with revised strategies on the diagnostic approach and the evaluation of risk assessment and disease severity classification. Emphasis is placed on the management and therapy of patients with COPD, covering both common principles, specialized modalities, and algorithms to distinguish between home care and the need for hospitalization. Although pharmacological treatment is commonly recognized in COPD, an integrative approach of pulmonary rehabilitation, physical activity, patient education, and self-assessment should be encountered for a comprehensive treatment, prevention of exacerbations, and increased quality of life in patients.

Asthma is a heterogeneous chronic inflammatory airway disease that imposes a great burden on public health worldwide. In the past two years, fundamental changes have been addressed in the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) recommendations focusing mainly on the management of mild and severe asthma. The use of as-needed treatment containing inhaled corticosteroids plus fast-acting bronchodilators (either short or long-acting formoterol) in mild asthma has dominated the field, and both randomized and real-world studies favor such an approach and associate it with fewer exacerbations and good asthma control. At the same time, the effort to diminish the use of oral steroids (OCS) as maintenance treatment in severe asthma was substantially accomplished with the initiation of treatment with biologics. Still, these options are available at the moment only for severe asthmatics with a T2-high endotype, and relevant studies on biologics have yielded, as a primary outcome, the reduction or even cessation of OCS. Accordingly, OCS should be considered as a temporary option, mainly for the treatment of asthma exacerbations, and as a maintenance treatment only for a minority of patients with severe asthma, after ensuring good inhaler technique, modification of all possible contributory factors and comorbidities, and optimized pharmacotherapy using all other add-on treatments including biologics in the armamentarium of anti-asthma medication.

We conducted a retrospective observational study to assess the hospitalization rates for acute exacerbations of asthma and COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) during the first imposed lockdown in Athens, Greece. Patient characteristics and the concentration of eight air pollutants [namely, NO (nitrogen monoxide), NO 2 (nitrogen dioxide), CO (carbon monoxide), PM2.5 (particulate matter 2.5), PM10 (particulate matter 10), O 3 (ozone), SO 2 (sulfur dioxide) and benzene] were considered. A total of 153 consecutive hospital admissions were studied. Reduced admissions occurred in the Lockdown period compared to the Pre-lockdown 2020 ( p < 0.001) or the Control 2019 ( p = 0.007) period. Furthermore, the concentration of 6/8 air pollutants positively correlated with weekly hospital admissions in 2020 and significantly decreased during the lockdown. Finally, admitted patients for asthma exacerbation during the lockdown were younger ( p = 0.046) and less frequently presented respiratory failure ( p = 0.038), whereas patients with COPD presented higher blood eosinophil percentage ( p = 0.017) and count ( p = 0.012). Overall, admissions for asthma and COPD exacerbations decreased during the lockdown. This might be partially explained by reduction of air pollution during this period while medical care avoidance behavior, especially among elderly patients cannot be excluded. Our findings aid in understanding the untold impact of the pandemic on diseases beyond COVID-19, focusing on patients with obstructive diseases.