Pulmonary Medicine Clinical Resource Center
Clinician-focused resources for asthma, COPD, gas exchange and arterial blood gases, pulmonary function testing, pulmonary embolism, pulmonary hypertension, interstitial lung disease and IPF, sleep-disordered breathing, respiratory infection, lung cancer screening, inhaled pharmacotherapy, laboratory support, and current GlobalRPh pulmonary reviews.
Clinical reference index
Pulmonary clinical domains
Clinical framework
Respiratory symptoms require physiologic, structural, and disease-specific interpretation
Dyspnea, cough, wheeze, hypoxemia, hypercapnia, exercise intolerance, and abnormal imaging can result from airway disease, parenchymal disease, pulmonary vascular disease, infection, cardiac disease, neuromuscular dysfunction, obesity, anemia, deconditioning, medication effects, or combinations of these processes. Pulmonary assessment therefore requires integration of history, physical findings, oxygenation, ventilation, pulmonary function, imaging, laboratory data, and response to therapy.
We reorganize our Pulmonary resources by clinical problem rather than by isolated drug class. The portal retains our established respiratory medication tables and gas-exchange calculators while adding current guideline pathways, pulmonary vascular resources, interstitial lung disease, sleep medicine, pulmonary embolism, and lung cancer screening.
GINA 2026 Asthma Strategy
GINA released the 2026 Strategy Report and Summary Guide in 2026. We use these resources as the current reference point for asthma diagnosis, controller therapy, reliever strategy, exacerbation prevention, and difficult-to-treat or severe asthma.
GOLD 2026 COPD Report
GOLD 2026 provides the current evidence-based strategy for COPD diagnosis, assessment, prevention, maintenance therapy, exacerbation management, comorbidities, and emerging technologies. We place this guidance beside our established bronchodilator and inhaled-therapy tables.
Pulmonary calculators and clinical decision support
Gas exchange, oxygen content, pulmonary embolism, and critical-care crossover tools
The legacy Pulmonary page exposed only two calculators. We retain those tools and add relevant GlobalRPh pulmonary embolism and critical-care calculations while distinguishing older disease pages from current clinical decision support.
Gas exchange and oxygenation
Pulmonary embolism / thromboembolism
Gas exchange, oxygenation, ventilation, and acid-base assessment
ABG interpretation requires physiologic context rather than isolated threshold values
Arterial blood gases can define oxygenation, ventilation, and acid-base status, but results must be interpreted with FiO2, altitude/barometric pressure, hemoglobin, temperature when relevant, ventilatory support, clinical trajectory, and the mechanism of respiratory failure.
A-a gradient
The A-a gradient can help differentiate hypoventilation or low inspired oxygen from abnormalities involving V/Q mismatch, diffusion limitation, or shunt. Interpretation depends on age, FiO2, barometric pressure, and the assumptions used in the alveolar gas equation.
Arterial oxygen content
Oxygen content incorporates hemoglobin concentration and oxygen saturation in addition to dissolved PaO2. A satisfactory PaO2 does not guarantee adequate arterial oxygen content when hemoglobin concentration is substantially reduced.
Pulmonary function testing
Spirometry, lung volumes, diffusion capacity, and physiologic pattern recognition
Pulmonary function tests classify physiologic impairment and support diagnosis when integrated with clinical findings. Contemporary ATS/ERS interpretation emphasizes appropriate reference equations, lower limits of normal and z-scores, quality criteria, and careful distinction between obstructive, restrictive, mixed, and diffusion abnormalities.
Current ATS/ERS interpretation
Interpretive framework
- Verify acceptability and repeatability before interpretation
- Use appropriate reference equations and lower limits of normal
- Confirm restriction with lung-volume measurement when indicated
- Interpret DLCO with hemoglobin and relevant clinical variables
- Use PFT patterns to classify physiology, not as a stand-alone disease diagnosis
GlobalRPh modernization opportunity
The current Pulmonary portal has no dedicated PFT section. We plan to develop a structured PFT interpretation resource using contemporary ATS/ERS standards, z-score based interpretation, bronchodilator response, lung volumes, and diffusion capacity.
Asthma
Diagnosis, anti-inflammatory treatment, exacerbation prevention, and severe-asthma phenotype assessment
Asthma management requires confirmation of variable expiratory airflow limitation when possible, assessment of symptom control and exacerbation risk, inhaler technique, adherence, comorbidities, environmental exposures, and selection of anti-inflammatory therapy appropriate to the patient.
Current asthma guidance
GlobalRPh inhaled pharmacotherapy
Severe asthma / biologic crossover
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Objective airflow obstruction, symptom burden, exacerbation risk, inhaled therapy, and comorbidity management
COPD diagnosis requires appropriate clinical context and objective confirmation of persistent airflow obstruction. Management extends beyond bronchodilator selection to smoking cessation, vaccination, pulmonary rehabilitation, exacerbation prevention, oxygen assessment, inhaler technique, comorbidity management, and individualized follow-up.
Current COPD guidance
GlobalRPh COPD pharmacotherapy
Historical GlobalRPh COPD calculator
This page states that a revision was expected in January 2019 and should not be interpreted as a current COPD staging or treatment algorithm.
Pulmonary embolism and venous thromboembolism
Pretest probability, diagnostic testing, acute risk classification, anticoagulation, and follow-up
In 2026, a multisociety AHA/ACC guideline introduced a new acute PE clinical classification framework and comprehensive recommendations spanning diagnosis, treatment, disposition, and post-PE follow-up. We place this current guidance beside our longstanding Wells and thrombolytic resources.
Current acute PE guidance
GlobalRPh prediction and treatment tools
Modernization priority
Our Wells PE calculator cites older diagnostic reviews. The score itself remains established, but we plan to place it within a current diagnostic pathway incorporating validated pretest probability, D-dimer strategy, imaging selection, the 2026 acute PE categories, and post-PE assessment.
Pulmonary hypertension
Classification, hemodynamic confirmation, risk assessment, and disease-specific therapy
Pulmonary hypertension is not a single disease and should not be treated as one. Classification, underlying mechanism, echocardiographic probability, right-heart catheterization when indicated, comorbid lung or left-heart disease, chronic thromboembolic disease, and referral to an experienced pulmonary hypertension center are central to appropriate management.
Current pulmonary hypertension guidance
GlobalRPh pulmonary hypertension resources
Key clinical distinctions
- Pulmonary arterial hypertension
- PH due to left-heart disease
- PH due to lung disease / hypoxia
- Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension
- PH with unclear or multifactorial mechanisms
Interstitial lung disease and pulmonary fibrosis
IPF, progressive pulmonary fibrosis, connective-tissue-disease ILD, and multidisciplinary diagnosis
Interstitial lung disease requires integration of exposure history, autoimmune features, high-resolution CT pattern, pulmonary function, serology when indicated, and multidisciplinary discussion. Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and progressive pulmonary fibrosis have disease-specific diagnostic and therapeutic pathways.
Current ILD / IPF guidance
GlobalRPh fibrosis reference
Modernization priority
Our current IPF table is centered on pirfenidone and nintedanib-era monographs and should be updated for current labeling, progressive pulmonary fibrosis, monitoring, adverse-effect management, transplant referral, oxygen, rehabilitation, and multidisciplinary diagnostic standards.
Sleep-disordered breathing
Obstructive sleep apnea, cardiometabolic risk, PAP therapy, and perioperative implications
Obstructive sleep apnea is relevant to pulmonary medicine, cardiovascular risk, perioperative safety, resistant hypertension, obesity, arrhythmia, and daytime neurocognitive function. Screening instruments can identify risk but do not replace objective sleep testing when a diagnosis is required.
GlobalRPh sleep apnea reviews
PAP / sleep medicine guidance
Clinical interpretation
- Distinguish screening risk from diagnostic confirmation
- Assess symptom burden and hypoxemic burden in context
- Address PAP adherence and interface tolerance
- Consider obesity, cardiometabolic disease, and sedating medications
- Coordinate perioperative planning when clinically relevant
Respiratory infection
Pneumonia, RSV, influenza, tuberculosis, post-viral lung disease, and antimicrobial support
Pulmonary infection intersects with Infectious Disease, Critical Care, Pediatrics, and antimicrobial stewardship. We centralize pulmonary cross-links without duplicating antimicrobial treatment tables that are maintained in the Infectious Disease section.
GlobalRPh respiratory infection resources
Post-COVID pulmonary sequelae
Professional pulmonary infection guidance
Lung cancer screening and pulmonary oncology crossover
Risk-based low-dose CT screening, pulmonary nodules, and multidisciplinary referral
Lung cancer screening can reduce lung-cancer mortality in appropriately selected high-risk adults, but implementation requires eligibility assessment, shared decision-making, smoking-cessation support, standardized imaging pathways, and management of incidental or indeterminate findings.
Current USPSTF screening recommendation
The current USPSTF recommendation is annual low-dose CT for adults aged 50 to 80 years with a 20 pack-year smoking history who currently smoke or quit within the past 15 years, with defined criteria for discontinuation.
GlobalRPh screening review
Clinical considerations
- Smoking exposure and eligibility verification
- Ability and willingness to pursue diagnostic evaluation and treatment
- Shared decision-making and smoking cessation
- Nodule follow-up and multidisciplinary pathways
- Comorbidity, frailty, and competing mortality risk
Respiratory pharmacotherapy
GlobalRPh inhaled, systemic, biologic, pulmonary vascular, and antifibrotic drug references
We retain the medication categories from the existing Pulmonary portal but reorganize them by clinical role. Many individual tables were developed over multiple years and require ongoing reconciliation with current marketed products, device availability, FDA labeling, and disease-specific guidance.
Airway bronchodilators and combinations
Anti-inflammatory / asthma controller therapy
Other respiratory drug references
Cough / upper-airway crossover
Monitoring / safety crossover
Medication-table review status
Some GlobalRPh pulmonary tables still contain discontinued products, historical brand/device information, older warnings, and older guideline-era positioning. We preserve the references while updating product status, labeling, monitoring, and current therapeutic roles.
Alphabetical GlobalRPh drug index
GlobalRPh Pulmonology article library
Current and established pulmonary reviews
The legacy Pulmonary portal did not surface a functional article library. We now include current and established GlobalRPh reviews relevant to respiratory diagnosis, chronic airway disease, pulmonary vascular disease, sleep apnea, post-viral lung disease, infection, and lung cancer screening.
2026
GlobalRPh pulmonary video development
Respiratory topics for structured clinician education
The current GlobalRPh master video library does not contain a dedicated Pulmonary category. We retain respiratory videos located in Pediatrics or other sections and identify priority topics for a dedicated pulmonary video library.
Existing respiratory videos
Priority pulmonary video topics
- GINA 2026 asthma treatment framework
- GOLD 2026 COPD diagnosis and pharmacotherapy
- ABG and A-a gradient interpretation
- PFT interpretation using ATS/ERS standards
- 2026 acute pulmonary embolism guideline
- Pulmonary hypertension classification and referral
- IPF and progressive pulmonary fibrosis
- Inhaler device selection and technique
- OSA screening versus diagnostic testing
- Lung cancer screening eligibility and follow-up
Clinical content modernization
Priority updates within the GlobalRPh Pulmonary library
The Pulmonary section contains useful drug tables and physiologic calculators, but many pages were developed under older product, device, guideline, and disease-classification frameworks. We plan to preserve useful clinical content while modernizing product status, disease pathways, references, and decision-support language.
Priority resource reviews
- COPD Calculator: retire or fully rebuild the incomplete page that still states an update was expected in January 2019. A replacement should incorporate current GOLD diagnosis, symptom/exacerbation assessment, eosinophil-informed ICS considerations, smoking cessation, vaccination, rehabilitation, oxygen, and follow-up.
- Asthma Clinical Tool: develop a dedicated GlobalRPh asthma decision-support page anchored to GINA 2026, including confirmation of variable airflow limitation, symptom and exacerbation assessment, ICS-containing therapy, MART/SMART concepts where appropriate, inhaler technique, adherence, biologic phenotype, and referral criteria.
- Inhaled Corticosteroids: update marketed products, age indications, device formulations, dose comparisons, local/systemic adverse effects, oral-rinse counseling, adrenal effects, and current GINA positioning.
- Beta2 Agonists: remove obsolete products and historical oral beta-agonist emphasis, update SABA/LABA formulations, device information, rescue-versus-maintenance roles, cardiovascular effects, hypokalemia risk, and current asthma/COPD positioning.
- Inhaled Anticholinergics: verify current marketed LAMA/SAMA products, COPD versus asthma indications, renal considerations, glaucoma/urinary-retention precautions, device technique, and combination-product availability.
- Combination Inhalers: rebuild the table around current ICS/LABA, LAMA/LABA, and ICS/LABA/LAMA products, approved indications, device-specific dosing, asthma-versus-COPD roles, and current labeling.
- Severe Asthma Biologics: expand beyond the existing IL-5 table to a phenotype-oriented biologic section including eosinophilic, allergic, and other supported pathways with current eligibility and monitoring considerations.
- Mast Cell Stabilizers: distinguish historical respiratory products from currently available therapies and remove obsolete product/device references.
- Theophylline / Aminophylline: clarify the limited contemporary role, therapeutic drug monitoring, narrow therapeutic index, interaction burden, age and disease effects on clearance, toxicity management, and current asthma/COPD positioning.
- A-a Gradient Calculator: preserve the alveolar gas equation while updating assumptions, FiO2 limitations, age-adjusted interpretation, altitude/barometric-pressure considerations, and the distinction between A-a gradient and other oxygenation indices.
- ABG Analysis: modernize terminology, compensation rules, mixed-disorder assessment, oxygenation interpretation, lactate/anion-gap crossover, and remove historical threshold statements that could be interpreted as protocol-level ventilator criteria.
- Pulmonary Function Testing: build a new structured PFT interpretation resource based on contemporary ATS/ERS standards, z-scores, LLN, bronchodilator response, lung volumes, DLCO, quality assessment, and physiologic pattern recognition.
- Pulmonary Embolism: integrate the Wells score into a current 2026 diagnostic and treatment pathway, including pretest probability, D-dimer strategy, imaging, acute PE clinical categories, anticoagulation, disposition, advanced therapy, and post-PE follow-up.
- Pulmonary Hypertension: reorganize the drug table by current PH classification, hemodynamics, referral, PAH risk assessment, combination therapy, CTEPH, monitoring, and disease-specific contraindications.
- IPF / Progressive Pulmonary Fibrosis: update the existing antifibrotic table with current ATS/ERS/JRS/ALAT guidance, progressive pulmonary fibrosis, monitoring, adverse-effect management, rehabilitation, oxygen, transplantation, and multidisciplinary diagnosis.
- Sleep-Disordered Breathing: develop a dedicated clinician page covering screening, diagnostic testing, PAP therapy, adherence, cardiometabolic comorbidity, perioperative implications, and referral pathways.
- Lung Cancer Screening: add a structured eligibility and follow-up resource incorporating current USPSTF criteria, shared decision-making, smoking cessation, LDCT implementation, nodule pathways, and oncology/thoracic-surgery referral.
Current external clinical standards
Authoritative respiratory guidance integrated with GlobalRPh pulmonary resources
Respiratory guidelines and technical standards evolve faster than many historical drug tables. We therefore provide direct access to current professional guidance while progressively updating our individual Pulmonary resources.
Supporting GlobalRPh clinical resources
Critical care, infectious disease, cardiology, oncology, pharmacokinetics, laboratory, and renal support
High-acuity and infection crossover
Cardiovascular / renal / PK support
Oncology / specialty crossover
Rationale for retaining established pulmonary medication and physiology pages
Many GlobalRPh respiratory drug tables and gas-exchange pages remain useful as references and are linked throughout longstanding clinical workflows. We are retaining those resources while modernizing product status, device information, FDA labeling, guideline positioning, diagnostic frameworks, and clinical warnings so historical content does not appear equivalent to current guidance.
Common LAB Values Renal Dosing
Internal Medicine Sections
- Cardiology
- Critical Care
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- ENT (Ear, Nose, Throat) + Cough/cold
- Gastroenterology
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- Internal Medicine Sections
- Miscellaneous Medical Sections
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- Pharmacokinetics – Calculators, Tools, Etc.
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