Preface Respiratory medicine is a quickly developing field in which novel achievements are continually made. The development of diagnostic and therapeutic techniques used in connection with bronchoscopy has been extremely successful and has thereby facilitated and improved the care of patients with disorders involving the airways and lungs. The endoscopic techniques conspire to make pulmonary medicine one of the most hands-on specialities, which, most likely, is an important factor contributing to the attraction of young doctors, interested in diagnostic and therapeutic interventions, to our speciality. One important way to arouse and satisfy this curiosity is of course to continuously provide updated information within the field, an educational responsibility that the European Respiratory Society (ERS) takes seriously, not least by publishing the European Respiratory Monograph (ERM). More than 10 yrs have passed since the last ERM focused on pulmonary endoscopy and biopsy techniques was published in 1998. The guest editor for that issue was, as is the case for the present one, Ja ´nos Strausz, who this time has acted as guest editor together with Chris Bolliger. The present ERM serves as an example of the tremendous development within pulmonology, and the guest editors have succeeded in attracting the most outstanding experts in the field. The new issue has been updated on all points that were covered by the previous ERM on this topic, and chapters on new techniques have been added. Thus, a chapter on in vivo confocal microendoscopy, a technique which allows microscopic imaging of peripheral airways, has been included, as have chapters on other novel techniques such as endoscopic lung volume reduction and bronchial thermoplasty for asthma. A chapter on anaesthesia for interventional bronchoscopy is also new and is included as one of the first chapters. I know that this ERM has been eagerly awaited for a long time by a lot of ERS members and non-members and it is now a pleasure to present it. I am sure that this ERM on Interventional Pulmonology, by being the most excellent source of information, will find its way to many readers and stimulate the interest in this field. Editor in Chief, K. Larsson Eur Respir Mon, 2010, 48, viii. Printed in UK - all rights reserved. Copyright ERS 2010 European Respiratory Monograph. Print ISSN: 1025-448x online ISSN: 2075-6674. DOI: 10.1183/1025448x.00992209 viii
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