The new ATS guidelines on treatment for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) will be unveiled during the session, “ATS Guidelines: Controversies in the Management of CAP and ARDS,” from 2:15 to  3:45 p.m. PT, Tuesday, May 20, in the Moscone Center, Room 215-216 (South Building, Level 2).

The session will also include debates and conversations about the use of corticosteroids and antibiotics in clinical therapy for CAP and neuromuscular blocking agents for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).

Session Co-chair Ann L. Jennerich, MD, MS, ATSF, associate professor in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine at the University of Washington, described the event as an opportunity to “unveil, explain, and demystify” the research, debates, and considerations that went into formulating the new guidelines.

“We want to give people the opportunity to go beyond the ‘what’ and get into the ‘why’ of how these are made,” said Dr. Jennerich.

Dr. Jennerich explained that the new CAP guidelines will augment the existing 2019 document, and reflect tremendous changes over the past six years, including significant volumes of research, and a growing interest in patient phenotyping and immunomodulation, specifically whether identifying distinct biological or clinical subtypes could allow for more precise, individualized treatment in CAP.

In addition to unveiling the new CAP guidelines, the session will include three debates on pressing clinical concerns: corticosteroids in CAP, antibiotics in CAP with positive viral testing, and neuromuscular blocking agents in ARDS.

Dr. Jennerich said these debates will reflect not only differing interpretations of the evidence but also persistent uncertainty about which patients are most likely to benefit from specific interventions.

She added that the session will benefit from global perspectives regarding interventions with “low- or very-low-certainty evidence,” and hopes that international attendees will add important perspectives to the discussions.

Ultimately, the benefit of this session goes beyond learning about current guidelines, Dr. Jennerich said. It should also equip clinicians to analyze developing areas and understand which approach might be most applicable for their patients.

“Walking through the pros and cons of different approaches deepens our understanding of how recommendations are made, particularly in areas where evidence is uncertain or evolving,” Dr. Jennerich noted. “Not every recommendation, or even guideline, is the end-all be-all for all patients. Ultimately, sessions like this demystify the guideline development process and reinforce the importance of clinical judgment. They empower clinicians to make informed, agile decisions, especially when navigating recommendations that may not come with high certainty of evidence.”

For a full schedule of conference events, visit ats2025.d365.events. To see more conference-related news and coverage of sessions and events, visit atsconferencenews.org.