Pneumology is a major medical speciality. Its vigor is seen when analysing its historical evolution, especially at the end of the 20th. century and beginning of the 21th. During this time, there has been great progress in learning more about asthma, occupational diseases, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), respiratory infections, cystic fibrosis, interstitial pneumology, pulmonary hypertension and breathing disorders in sleep apnea.

In addition, new and effective therapeutic procedures have been developed. Thus, oxygen therapy, non invasive mechanical ventilation, continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) and lung transplantation have radically changed the lives of many pulmonary insufficiency patients.

New horizons have also been opened:

• The possibility of determining genetic susceptibility to certain diseases and preventive measures that could be developed.
• Genetic therapy and molecular biology techniques to design new forms of therapy.
• Modern imaging procedures and less invasive surgical methods.
• New information and communication techniques that enable home monitoring of several respiratory diseases or remote diagnosis and access to scientific information, for both doctors and patients.

In this context of progress and optimism, there is a very prevalent disease that affects over 10% of adults between 40 and 80 years old and has significant economic and social cost. That is Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), which includes two diseases: chronic bronchitis and emphysema.

This is a preventable and treatable disease characterised by persistent air flow limitation. It is poorly reversible, progressive and associated with a chronic airways inflammatory reaction, mostly due to smoking, but also to some other toxic particles or gases. Its main symptoms are: dyspnea (breathing difficulty or lack of air), cough and expectoration. Lung affectation varies from patient to patient, and the disease is usually accompanied by other problems that frequently cause exacerbation. These two factors contribute to its severity. The purpose of treatment is to alleviate the symptoms and improve tolerance to exercise and daily activity and improve overall health. In the long term, it aims at slowing down the progression of the disease, preventing and treating complications and lower mortality. At the Germans Trias, patients receive care in consultation, hospitalization and the day hospital.

In 2005, the Pneumology Service at the Germans Trias was the first in the country to incoporate a technique that makes it possible to deeply explore bronchii without surgery. It is the endoscopic ultrasound-guided real-time fine-needle aspiration, with in situ cytologic evaluation (thanks to the Pathological Anatomy Service) and with deep sedation (thanks to the Anestheology and Reanimation Service). The results obtained have been positive, allowing us to publish original articles and reviews in highly relevant national and international journals and receive recognition in speciality conferences.

Along the same lines, Germans Trias has a good number of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures that make it a benchmark in its area.

The Germans Trias Pneumology Service carries our research in the following areas:

• Lung cancer, together with the Catalan Oncology Institute
• Respiratory biomarkers
• Genetics in asthma and Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSA)
• Telemedicine in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and (OSA)
• Tuberculosis (through the Experimental Tuberculosis Unit) and respiratory infections
• Interventional pulmonary techniques: pulmonary volume reduction with endoscopy, cryobiopsy and thermoplasty

The service belongs to the Online Biomedical Research Centre (CIBER) groups focused on COPD, cancer, tuberculosis and bioengineering. It is also a National Excellence Centre in echo-fibrobronchoscopy.

In addition, it collaborates with several other institutions, including the Polytechnical University and the Bioengineering Institute of Catalonia, and it participates in phase II and IV clinical trials. It owns a registered patent and has two pending patents.

Undergraduate teaching

The service has a tenured lecturer (Doctor Ruiz Manzano) of the UAB School of Medicine at the Can Ruti Campus, as well as several associate and assistant lecturers.

Postgraduate teaching

It is accredited to train two Pneumology residents per year. It also welcomes national and international rotations in the Interventional Pulmonary Endoscopy Unit.

It is also part of the teaching team of several Master programmes. 

Residents information

• Teaching guide.
• Find out what our residents think about the Pneumology service of the Germans Trias.

Continuous training

It organizes general pneumology updating courses for primary care doctors and nurses and on asthsma in particular.