Nearly 2 years into the pandemic, all things COVID-19 will of course be a major focus of the American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST) 2021 Annual Meeting.
"During the pandemic, critical care has been at the forefront of what people are interested in," said CHEST 2021 program co-chair Christopher Carroll, MD, FCCP, from Connecticut Children's Medical Center, Hartford, Connecticut.
"There is so much volume in critical care units that people have interest in anything related to critical care, including infectious diseases and disaster management in critical care," he said in an interview with Medscape Medical News.
Sessions at this year's meeting that have a COVID-19 theme will focus on care of both patients and caregivers. Multiple symposiums, oral abstracts, scientific posters, and case reports will focus on clinical aspects of SARS-CoV-2 infections and COVID-19, including complications such as ventilator-associated and hospital-acquired pneumonia, a session called "Viruses, Variants, Vaccines, and Virulence: The Present and Future of COVID-19," and support of patients and families.
Other presentations will focus on how COVID-19 has affected lung cancer screening, outpatient practices, pulmonary care, and sleep medicine.
Importantly, the meeting will also include sessions focusing on the mental, physical, and social health of clinicians, especially those on the front lines in critical care and intensive care units.
