Selected clinical highlights from the 2012 ERS Congress in Vienna.

This article reviews a selection of scientific presentations at the 2012 annual meeting of the European Respiratory Society held in Vienna, Austria. The best abstracts from the groups of the Clinical Assembly (Clinical Problems, Rehabilitation and Chronic Care, Imaging, Interventional Pulmonology, Diffuse Parenchymal Lung Disease, and General Practice and Primary Care) are here presented and discussed in the context of the most updated literature. The reviewed topics especially deal with the area of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (acute exacerbations, comorbidities, prognosis, rehabilitation), the diagnosis and management of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, sarcoidosis, endobronchial techniques in emphysema, functional imaging, and issues in respiratory medicine relevant for the primary care setting, including aspects related to the end-of-life and palliation.