ERS International Congress 2020: highlights from the Paediatric Assembly.

In this review, the Paediatric Assembly of the European Respiratory Society (ERS) presents a summary of the highlights and most relevant findings in the field of paediatric respiratory medicine presented at the virtual ERS International Congress 2020. Early Career Members of the ERS and Chairs of the different Groups comprising the Paediatric Assembly discuss a selection of the presented research. These cover a wide range of research areas, including respiratory physiology and sleep, asthma and allergy, cystic fibrosis, respiratory infection and immunology, neonatology and intensive care, epidemiology, bronchology and lung and airway development. Specifically, we describe the long-term effect in lung function of premature birth, mode of delivery and chronic respiratory conditions such as cystic fibrosis. In paediatric asthma, we present risk factors, phenotypes and their progression with age, and the challenges in diagnosis. We confirm the value of the lung clearance index to detect early lung changes in cystic fibrosis. For bronchiectasis treatment, we highlight the importance of identifying treatable traits. The use of biomarkers and genotypes to identify infants at risk of long-term respiratory morbidity is also discussed. We present the long-term impact on respiratory health of early life and fetal exposures to maternal obesity and intrauterine hypoxia, mechanical ventilation hyperoxia, aeroallergens, air pollution, vitamin A deficient intake and bronchitis. Moreover, we report on the use of metabolomics and genetic analysis to understand the effect of these exposures on lung growth and alveolar development. Finally, we stress the need to establish multidisciplinary teams to treat complex airway pathologies.

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©The authors 2021.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

Conflict of interest: C. Ardura-Garcia has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: S. Cuevas-Ocaña has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: N. Freitag has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: A. Kampouras has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: J.A. King has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: P. Kouis has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: S.M. Mensink-Bout has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: A.L. Whitehouse has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: E. Williams has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: T. Dassios has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: L. Duijts has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: R.H. Ersu has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: E.A. Gaillard reports consultancy work for Boehringer Ingelheim with money paid to his institution (University of Leicester); an investigator-led research grant from Circassia, Gilead and Chiesi Limited; and research collaboration with Medimmune. Conflict of interest: A.R. Horsley reports grants from the Cystic Fibrosis Trust and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation; personal fees from Mylan Pharmaceuticals and Vertex Pharmaceuticals; nonfinancial support from Innovision ApS; and grants from the National Institute of Health Research, all outside the submitted work. Conflict of interest: M. Proesmans has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: R. Rottier has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: D. Schramm has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: A. Moeller has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: M.W. Pijnenburg has nothing to disclose.