This live discussion focused on the experiences and learnings of specialists and patients in the fields of IPF, pulmonary hypertension, cystic fibrosis and bronchiectasis since the emergence of COVID-19.

Topics

• How the pandemic has affected follow-up and highly specialised care; a patient's perspective.
• The results of a survey on European cystic fibrosis patients with COVID-19.
• Recent events in non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis.
• The severity and outcomes of COVID-19 in patients with IPF.
• The impact of COVID-19 infection in patients with rare forms of pulmonary hypertension.

The panel

ERS President Elect Professor Marc Humbert and ERJ Deputy Chief Editor Professor James Chalmers led the discussion and were joined by:

• Ms Pisana Ferrari - Patient Advocate for Pulmonary Hypertension and Organ Donation/Transplant
• Professor Isabelle Fajac - President of the European Cystic Fibrosis Society (ECFS)
• Dr Clémence Martin - Doctor of Pulmonology at Cochin Hospital, Paris
• Dr Pippa Powell - Director of the European Lung Foundation (ELF)
• Professor Vincent Cottin - Coordinator of the National Reference Centre for Rare Pulmonary Diseases at the Louis Pradel Hospital and the Claude Bernard University Lyon, France
• Professor Katerina Antoniou - Head of the Molecular and Cellular Pneumonology Laboratory at the University of Crete, Greece
• Professor Marion Delcroix - Head of Pulmonary Hypertension Program at the University Hospitals of Leuven, Belgium
• Mr Gergely Meszaros - Advocacy Manager at the European Pulmonary Hypertension Association (PHA Europe)