During the past year, among the many novelties in the field of pulmonary medicine, the authors chose to focus on 4 items: the positive contribution of systemic steroids on clinical improvement and length of stay in patients hospitalized for community-acquired pneumonia; the interesting results obtained with high flow oxygen, heated and humidified, in acute care and in normocapnic respiratory failure, a device which warrants further clinical testing in other indications; the now documented benefits of lung volume reduction procedures by bronchoscopy using coils in severe emphysema with hyperinflation; and the publication of new recommendations regarding pulmonary hypertension, with an emphasis on new molecules and their efficacy, on an early use of combination treatments, and on the importance of expert centres in managing these patients.