BTS Winter Meeting 2025 - Presenters Report
Rachel Daly, Vice Chair of the ARNS Respiratory Disease sub committee
I had a fantastic time at this years Winter British Thoracic society conference which was held in London on 26th - 28th November. It was a great opportunity for learning, networking and collaboration. I was invited to present an abstract and poster presentation on a recent study I have been undertaking in my clinical nursing role.
This study reviewed patients referred to the Manchester Complex Breathlessness Service who were thought to have asthma but were instead found to have inducible laryngeal obstruction (ILO), breathing pattern disorder (BPD), or both. Despite being treated for asthma, all patients had normal lung function and negative bronchial challenge tests, suggesting misdiagnosis.
Over 12 months, patients received nurse‑led breathlessness management, with additional speech and language therapy for ILO and physiotherapy for BPD. Before intervention, patients had high healthcare utilisation and frequent use of steroids, antibiotics, and reliever inhalers.
Following treatment, there were significant reductions in hospital admissions, steroid and antibiotic courses, and improved asthma control questionnaire scores (ACQ). Most patients stopped reliever inhalers, many discontinued inhaled corticosteroids, and none required daily prednisolone.
Overall, it was highlighting the importance of accurate diagnosis alongside targeted non‑pharmacological management and education can reduce unnecessary medication, lowered healthcare use, and improved symptoms in patients with refractory breathlessness.
