Throughout a woman’s life, physiologic changes related to pregnancy and menopause will necessitate nuanced approaches to her pulmonary, sleep, and critical care. Sessions during CHEST 2024 will highlight these distinct dynamics and outline clinical strategies to optimize women’s health and well-being.

“Historically, the bulk of the research has been focused on men, and then we extrapolate what we can toward women—except women make up half the population,” said Swetha Gogineni, MD, pulmonology, critical care, and sleep medicine physician at UCLA Health. “Women go through menstrual changes, pregnancy, and menopause, and all of these factors can impact their sleep. It’s important to be aware of them when determining how to best diagnose patients and how to treat them.”

Dr. Gogineni will chair the session Precision Medicine for Sleep Disorders in Women, on Tuesday, October 8, at 4 pm ET in Room 253A at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center. Speakers will present strategies to recognize unique sleep disorder presentations in women generally and discuss the specific interplay of pregnancy and menopause with women’s sleep.

“It’s important to focus on the lifespan as a whole for women because it’s not just one static thing,” Dr. Gogineni said. “It’s dynamic. It’s changing throughout.”

The session ILD in Women: Addressing Unique Challenges, on Tuesday at 8 am in Room 253A, will review sex-based differences in interstitial lung disease (ILD), including a higher incidence of connective tissue disease-related ILD in women. Presenters will also call attention to ILD factors affecting childbearing status and the complications associated with immunosuppressive medications during pregnancy and lactation.

Two sessions on Sunday, October 6, will detail best practices for the evaluation and treatment of pregnant patients with pulmonary disorders, including VTE, pulmonary hypertension, ILD, and asthma. Management of Pulmonary and Pulmonary Vascular Disease in Pregnancy will be held at 9:45 am in Room 258A, and Management of Pulmonary Diseases During Pregnancy: A Unique Challenge will be held at 4 pm in Room 257AB.

Physiology for Two: Caring for the Critically Ill Pregnant Patient, on Wednesday, October 9, at 2:15 pm in Room 253A, will explore critical care considerations during pregnancy. Ensuring the safety of both a pregnant patient and fetus in the high-stakes environment of the ICU can be unfamiliar or uncomfortable territory for many, said Session Chair, Rania Esteitie, MD, FCCP, Associate Professor at Central Michigan University and Covenant HealthCare. 

“Having a critically ill pregnant patient really scares a lot of us,” she said. “We don’t want to see these patients in our ICU to begin with, and it is definitely challenging.”

Navigating such a complex situation requires specialized knowledge and collaboration, so the session will feature perspectives from a critical care physician, respiratory therapist, pharmacist, and medical student. This multidisciplinary panel will cover key changes in respiratory mechanics, tailored nutritional interventions, adapted airway management techniques, and altered pharmacodynamics.

“By focusing on these topics, we can not only improve awareness but also understanding among health care professionals, leading to better health care practices and ultimately better outcomes in general,” Dr. Esteitie said. “Being able to discuss these issues promotes sex-specific research, encourages the development of tailored treatment protocols, and ultimately will lead to enhancement of the quality of care for both women and their infants.”