This issue of Clinics in Chest Medicine, edited by Dr. Danielle Antin-Ozerkis and Dr. Kristin Highland, is devoted to Thoracic Manifestations of Rheumatic Disease. Topics include: Scleroderma/Mixed Connective Tissue Disease (MCTD); Lupus and APLAS; Sjögren's Syndrome; Rheumatoid Arthritis; Polymyositis/Dermatomyositis; Small Vessel Vasculidities: GPA/MPA/EGPA; Ig4 Related Disease; Spondylarthropathies; Interstitial Pneumonia with Autoimmune Features; Immunosuppressive Therapy (toxicity monitoring, PJP prophylaxis, bone health, immunization, pulmonary drug toxicity); Transplantation (scleroderma, challenges with PRAs, reflux/dysmotility); Biomarkers, Antibodies, and Immunologic Evaluation of the Patient with Lung Disease; Radiology/Imaging of Pulmonary Manifestation of Connective Tissue Disease; and Pulmonary Pathology in Connective Tissue Disease.

Perhaps the etymologic background of rheumatology foretells the intimate relationship between diseases of the chest and rheumatologic disorders, a common cause of morbidity and mortality. Close collaboration between experts in both disciplines is essential in the comprehensive assessment and management of these complex patients. It has been nearly 10 years since Clinics in Chest Medicine devoted an issue to the pulmonary complications of the rheumatic disease. New antibodies have been discovered that aid in diagnosis and phenotyping of disease and give further insights into pathobiologic mechanisms. We now have criteria for interstitial pneumonia with autoimmune features, which describe individuals with both interstitial lung disease and combinations of other clinical, serologic, and/or pulmonary morphologic features, which presumably originate from an underlying systemic autoimmune condition, but who do not meet current rheumatologic criteria for a defined connective tissue disease. With translation of fundamental discoveries, we have an even greater treatment arsenal that includes new and re-purposed immunosuppressive and biologic therapies, antifibrotic drugs, and agents that target vascular pathways. Data from rigorous placebo-controlled clinical trials now inform treatment decisions. In addition, a greater number of centers are willing to perform lung transplantation in highly complex patients with outcomes mirroring those without rheumatic disease, and there is an evolving role for autologous stem-cell transplantation.

This issue of Clinics in Chest Medicine, edited by Dr. Denis O'Donnell and Dr. Alberto Neder, focuses on Clinical Respiratory Physiology. Articles include: The Pathophysiology of Obstructive Sleep Apnea; The Physiology of Mechanical Ventilation; Exercise Pathophysiology in Congestive Heart Failure; Control of Breathing; Breathing at Extremes; Exercise Pathophysiology in Interstitial Lung Disease; Importance of Physiology in Clinical Decision-Making in the ICU; Pulmonary Hypertension and Exercise; Physiologic Effects of Oxygen Supplementation During Exercise in COPD; Benefits and Pitfalls of DLCO measurements in Clinical Practice; Cardio-pulmonary Interactions in COPD-CHF; Exercise Physiology in COPD; Dyspnea of Unknown Origin: The Role of Exercise Testing; Assessment of Ventilatory Limitation During Exercise; Respiratory Muscle Assessment in Clinical Practice; Exertional Periodic Breathing in Heart Failure; and Strategies to Increase Physical Activity in Chronic Respiratory Diseases

This issue of Clinics in Chest Medicine, edited by Dr. Charles L. Daley and Dr. David Lewinsohn, focuses on Tuberculosis. Topics include: Epidemiology of Tuberculosis (TB) in the United States; Immunology of Tuberculosis; Tuberculosis and Biologics; Laboratory Diagnosis of Tuberculosis; Supranational Tuberculosis Reference Laboratories (a global approach); Treatment of Drug Susceptible Tuberculosis; Treatment of Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis; New Drugs for the Treatment of Tuberculosis; Diagnosis of Latent Tuberculosis: the Role of Interferon Gamma Release; Treatment of Latent Tuberculosis; Management of Children with Tuberculosis; Tuberculosis and HIV; The Future of Vaccines for Tuberculosis; and Preventing Transmission of M. Tuberculosis.

This issue of Clinics in Chest Medicine, edited by Dr. Serpil Erzurum and Dr. Sumita Khatri, is devoted to several key areas of interest related to understanding Asthma and its treatments. Topics covered in this issue include: Epidemiology of the Asthma Epidemic in the 21st Century; Classification of Asthma; Genetics and Epigenetics of Asthma; Pro-Inflammatory Pathways in the Pathogenesis of Asthma; Dysfunction of Bronchomotor Tone Pathways in Asthmatic Airway Smooth Muscle; Systematic Approach to Asthma of Varying Severity; Comorbidities and Non-allergic Triggers in Asthma Exacerbations and Severity; Microbiome in Mechanisms of Asthma; Diet and Metabolism in the Evolution of Asthma and Obesity; The Exposome of Asthma; Life Cycle of Childhood Asthma; Asthma over the Adult Lifecourse, considering Gender and Hormonal Influences; Asthma and Corticosteroid Responses in Childhood and Adult Asthma; Immunomodulators and Biologics; Bronchial Thermoplasty; Population Health Models for Asthma; and The Future of Asthma Care: Personalized Asthma Treatment.

This issue of Clinics in Chest Medicine, guest-edited by Dr. M. Patricia Rivera, is the first of two issues focused on Lung Cancer. Topics discussed in this issue include but are not limited to: Lung Cancer in the 21st Century; Epidemiology, Etiology, and Prevention; Lung Cancer in Women: A Modern Epidemic; Primary Prevention of Lung Cancer: Tobacco Treatment; The Biology of Lung Cancer: Development of More Effective Methods for Prevention, Diagnosis, and Treatment; Pathology of Lung Cancer; Lung Cancer Screening: Patient Selection and Implementation; The Approach to the Subsolid Nodule; Bronchoscopic Diagnostic Procedures Available to the Pulmonologist; Bronchoscopic Therapeutic Procedures Available to the Pulmonologist; and Biomarkers in Lung Cancer.

This issue of Clinics in Chest Medicine, guest-edited by Dr. M. Patricia Rivera, is the second of two issues focused on Lung Cancer. Topics discussed in this issue include but are not limited to: Lung Cancer TNM Staging: The 8th Edition; New Surgical Approaches in the Treatment of NSCLC; Alternatives to Surgery for Early Stage Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Stereotactic Radiotherapy; Alternatives to Surgery for Early Stage Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Thermal Ablation; Advances in the Treatment of Stage III NSCLC; Advances in Treatment of NSCLC: Targeted Therapy; Advances in the Treatment of NSCLC: Immunotherapy; Treatment of Oligometastatic Disease in NSCLC; Management of Malignant Pleural Effusions; Advances in the Treatment of Small Cell Lung Cancer; Palliative Care and the Role of the Primary Care Physician in Lung Cancer Care; Pulmonary Complications of Immunotherapy; and Pulmonary Complications of Chemotherapy and Radiation Therapy.