Symptoms and signs of respiratory disease:
• to address the symptoms and the signs of respiratory disease commonly encountered by the pulmonologist
• to understand the significance of the most important pulmonary function tests (spirometry, lung volume measurement, bronchodilator response, diffusing capacity, bronchoprovocation and measurements of arterial blood gases)
• to address the principles of thoracic imaging
• to address the principles of bronchial endoscopy
Bronchial asthma:
• to review the current definition of asthma
• to understand the epidemiology, the pathology and pathophysiology of asthma
• to learn the clinical presentation and to address the diagnosis
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease:
• to review the current definition of COPD
• to understand the epidemiology, the pathology and pathophysiology of COPD
• to learn the clinical presentation and to address the diagnosis (differential diagnosis between asthma and COPD)
Pneumonia:
to review the epidemiology, the clinical features and the diagnostic methods of community-acquired pneumonia and nosocomial pneumonia
Interstitial and inflammatory lung diseases:
to describe the salient epidemiologic, clinical, physiologic, and radiologic features of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and sarcoidosis
Respiratory failure:
• to review the definition and to understand the pathophysiologic classification
• to describe the clinical presentation and the therapeutical approach
Sleep apnea syndrome:
to understand the definition, the epidemiology, the pathophysiology, the clinical presentation and the therapeutical approach, with special reference to obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.