European Respiratory Society (ERS) Congress 2026

As Head of Assembly 4, what are you most looking forward to about this year’s ERS Congress? We are fortunate to have sessions dealing with the main theme which is patient related outcomes, starting from a joint symposium with Assembly 5: Uncontrolled obstructive airway diseases – is obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) the missing link? which will include also a patient testimony. We are looking forward for the presentations and for the discussion towards early identification, diagnosis and treatment of sleep breathing disorders in patients with obstructive respiratory diseases (COPD, asthma…) towards primary and secondary prevention from comorbidities, reduced exacerbations and improvement in patient’s quality of life. In line with the above are the guidelines for positive airway pressure therapy , the state-of-the-art session : From cause to treatment: OSA as a driver of hypertension and a target for prevention, the PG course dealing with modern concepts in phenotyping and personalised treatment of OSA. Last but not least the hot topic session for the use of telemedicine in OSA for optimising diagnosis and importantly treatment follow up in order to increase adherence for achieving patient outcomes including prevention from cardiometabolic comorbidities. In line with these are the symposium for the perspective discussion attempt to identify if treatable traits-based and symptom subtype-based management may replace the standard diagnostic and treatment strategies in OSA, the expert interview session related to ERS Statement for the use of adaptive servoventilation (ASV) and why is important in clinical practice for patients with heart failure and central sleep apnoea and many thematic posters and oral presentation utilising also the use of basic sleep science in clinical practice.