We are the combination of four hospitals: the General Hospital, the Children’s Hospital, the Women’s Hospital and the Traumatology, Rehabilitation and Burns Hospital. We are part of the Vall d’Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus: a world-leading health park where healthcare plays a crucial role.
Patients are the centre and the core of our system. We are professionals committed to quality care and our organizational structure breaks down the traditional boundaries between departments and professional groups, with an exclusive model of knowledge areas.
Would you like to know what your stay at Vall d'Hebron will be like? Here you will find all the information.
The commitment of Vall d'Hebron University Hospital to innovation allows us to be at the forefront of medicine, providing first class care adapted to the changing needs of each patient.
AMD is a degenerative disease of the retina and is currently the leading cause of vision loss and blindness in older people in developed countries.
The retina is the layer at the back of the eye that captures light and sends it to the brain. In the central part of the retina is the macula, which is responsible for sharp, detailed vision. With age, this central area may degenerate and cause a progressive loss of central vision.
The most common early symptom is distorted vision (metamorphopsia). You may notice that straight lines appear wavy or bent.
Other symptoms may include:
AMD does not usually cause total blindness, but it can significantly affect central vision.
The main risk factor is age. The risk increases especially from the age of 50–55 onwards and continues to rise over time.
Other risk factors include:
Early diagnosis is essential. From the age of 50, regular eye examinations including a fundus examination are recommended. In many cases, the disease is not detected at first because one eye compensates for the other. For this reason, it is important to:
If you notice distortion or a fixed central spot, you should consult a specialist.
There are two main types of advanced AMD: atrophic (or dry) AMD, which progresses slowly and currently has no available treatment; and exudative (or wet) AMD, which is more aggressive and can cause faster vision loss.
The wet form can currently be treated with intravitreal injections. This treatment does not cure the disease, but it can stop its activity and stabilise it.
Treatment usually requires regular injections. At first, these may be given monthly or every two months and can later be spaced out depending on progress. Good adherence to treatment is key to preserving vision.
It cannot be completely prevented, but you can reduce your risk by:
Ophthalmology, General Hospital
This is an inflammation or infection of the conjunctiva, the transparent membrane that covers the eyelid and the white part of the eyeball. When small blood vessels of the conjunctiva become inflamed, they become more visible, so this layer turns red. The most common cause is a viral or bacterial infection, a reaction to an allergen or an irritant. This is a very common condition in the general population.
The following three types of conjunctivitis may be found:
It can affect any person of any age.
Diagnosis of conjunctivitis is clinical, by means of good medical history and an examination by the primary care doctor and/or, on specific occasions, by the ophthalmologist.
The most common test is a biomicroscopic examination with a slit lamp. On certain occasions a sample of conjunctival exudate can be collected for a culture, especially if the suspicion is of a bacterial conjunctivitis.
For viral conjunctivitis, being a viral infection, the main treatment is waiting, as the body itself is able to combat the infection. Hydrating eye drops can be used frequently to soothe the discomfort, in addition to washing with saline solution if there is an accumulation of secretions, or even sometimes additional anti-inflammatory drops according to the clinical picture.
Bacterial conjunctivitis is usually treated with topical antibiotics, except on certain occasions that may require systemic antibiotic treatment. Hydrating eye drops can also be used to soothe the discomfort in addition to washing with saline solution if there is an accumulation of secretions.
In the case of an allergic conjunctivitis, anti-histamines can normally be used to reduce itching and inflammation, although hydrating drops and washing with cold saline solution can also be useful for soothing symptoms.
As for conjunctivitis due to irritants, hydrating eye drops and washing with saline solution are usually enough, although depending on the origin of the irritation, it can sometimes require an anti-inflammatory or other types of drops.
In the case of viral and bacterial conjunctivitis, prevention could be carried out by means of good hygiene (washing your hands, not touching your eyes if you live with an affected person, changing the pillows and not sharing towels).
In the case of allergic conjunctivitis, prevention is possible, avoiding contact with the allergen if known.
And for conjunctivitis due to irritants, prevention could be done through eye protection (protective glasses), especially in work environments where there may be a risk of contact with chemical substances or risk of foreign bodies entering the eye.
Sjögren’s syndrome is a chronic autoimmune disease that mainly affects the glands that produce tears and saliva. It causes dryness of the eyes and mouth, although other organs may also be involved. It is more common in women and is often associated with other autoimmune diseases. Treatment focuses on relieving dryness and managing possible complications.
Sjögren's Syndrome is a chronic, systemic autoimmune disease, the cause of which is unknown. Its main symptoms are a dry mouth (xerostomia) and dry eyes (xerophthalmia). In this disease, the cells making up our defence system (immune system) attack parts of the body itself, such as the glands that keep the eyes and mouth moist, and glands in other parts of the body, altering their function. Symptoms in other organs, such as the lungs, joints or nervous system, may also occur.
Patients with Sjögren's Syndrome mainly have symptoms related to a lack of tear and saliva production, which causes dryness in the mouth and eyes. The main symptoms suffered by patients are a burning, gritty sensation in the eyes, red eyes, blurred vision, the need to drink water frequently, difficulty swallowing dry food and a higher propensity for tooth decay and mouth infections. This dryness may also affect the skin and vaginal area, which causes painful sexual relationships. Other symptoms that Sjögren's Syndrome patients may show are joint or muscle pain and fatigue. Less frequently, other organs, such as the lungs, kidney and nerve endings, may be affected.
Above all, the disease affects women aged between 40 and 60. It is calculated that the incidence is between 0.5% and 3% of the population.
There is no single test enabling diagnosis of Sjögren's Syndrome. Diagnosing Sjögren's Syndrome in a patient referred with dry eyes and mouth is based on tests that confirm the existence of a deficit in tear and saliva production and that prove that the dryness is associated with an imbalance in the immune system.
Treatment of Sjögren's Syndrome is essentially based on measures that alleviate the feeling of dryness shown by the patient. The treatment includes the use of artificial tears, eye gels, eye drops, nebulisers and tablets to stimulate saliva production. Particular patients may be given treatment to stimulate glandular secretion. In serious cases, where there are symptoms in organs other than the glands (lungs and peripheral nerves, etc) it may be necessary to administer medication that acts to decrease immune system activity (immunosuppressant drugs).
Patients with Sjögren's Syndrome must undergo a series of eye tests, blood and urine tests and, on certain occasions, it is necessary to do a small biopsy of lip mucous to confirm the existence of inflammation in the glands producing saliva.
Sindrome-Sjogren
Sociedad Española de Medicina Interna
American College of Rheumatology: Síndrome de Sjögren
Spondyloarthritis is the name of a group of diseases whose common element is inflammation of the axial skeleton (especially the spine), although it can also affect the peripheral joints (hands, feet, knees, etc.). The following diseases are included in this group: axial spondyloarthritis (or ankylosing spondylitis, in its more advanced stage), psoriatic arthritis, arthritis related to inflammatory intestinal disease, reactive arthritis, and a subgroup of juvenile idiopathic arthritis.
The most common symptom is pain in the lower back or buttocks (inflammatory lumbar pain). This pain is characterised by worsening with rest and improving with exercise. It is associated with prolonged morning stiffness, can wake patients up in the night, and it improves with anti-inflammatory medications. It can also affect the peripheral joints; this is most common in psoriatic arthritis, which can manifest as pain and inflammation in the knuckles, wrists, feet, and other joints.
Spondyloarthritis also affects what we call the enthesis, where a tendon inserts into a bone. The most commonly affected entheses are the Achilles tendon and the epicondyles (elbows), although any tendon insertion can be affected.
Finally, these diseases also present with manifestations outside the joints, and these may be the only visible presentation of the illness. These include inflammation of the eye (uveitis), inflammatory intestinal disease (ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease), or inflammation of the skin (psoriasis). In fact, 30% of patients with psoriasis have psoriatic arthritis and the skin lesions tend to predict the joint disease.
Spondyloarthritis can affect anyone, although it usually presents between adolescence and 50 years of age. Axial spondyloarthritis usually manifests before the age of 40, while psoriatic arthritis can start later (between 30 and 50 years of age). These affect women and men equally, even though axial spondyloarthritis is slightly more prevalent in men.
It is quite common for people who have one of these illnesses to have family members with the same disease or another spondyloarthritic condition. That is why it was decided these be grouped together, thinking that they share a common aetiology. Thus, genetics is the main cause of these diseases, with several genes identified; the most prominent is HLA-B27, which can be detected in the laboratory, making diagnosis easier. Other causes, like infectious aetiologies, have been investigated, since in many cases the disease is preceded by an infection that acts as a trigger.
The diagnosis of the disease is done in a comprehensive way, considering the symptoms the patient complains of, the physical examination, the analytical results, and the imaging (X-ray, ultrasound, MRI) results. It's important to consider that there is no one analysis or other test that can diagnose these diseases by itself; it will always require a specialist in rheumatology to perform a medical evaluation of the situation as a whole.
Since the symptoms they present can be confused with very common conditions (lower back pain) and there is no specific test that can diagnose them unequivocally, it's common for a diagnosis to take up to 10 years. It is routine for patients to visit multiple professionals and specialists (traumatologists, physical therapists, osteopaths, primary care physicians, etc.) before receiving a diagnosis.
One of the treatment pillars for spondyloarthritis is exercise and physical therapy that targets the joints. The main pharmacological options are anti-inflammatory agents, and in case these do not control the illness, the so-called disease modifying drugs (DMDs) will then be used. Within the DMDs, we use conventional DMDs, like methotrexate and sulfasalazine, and more recently we have begun using biological and synthetic DMDs, which represent an important advance in the treatment of these diseases.
Unfortunately, there is no particular action we know of that can prevent the appearance of spondyloarthritis. Nevertheless, tobacco use is one of the most important factors involved in these diseases and their progression, so avoiding tobacco is recommended. In the case of psoriatic arthritis, the fact that the skin disease often precedes the joint disease offers us a window of opportunity to identify it early and avoid its progression. Biomarkers to be able to identify it before it appears are being researched.
Minority diseases, also called rare diseases, are those that affect between 5% and 7% of the population. They are very varied, affecting different parts of the body with a wide range of symptoms that change both between diseases and within the same disease.
It is estimated that some 30 million people in the EU, 3 million in Spain, and around 350,000 in Catalonia suffer from one.
The complexity of most rare diseases requires multidisciplinary care involving expert professionals from different medical specialties, personalized nursing management, psychological support, and social work, among other services.
At Vall d’Hebron, more than 200 specialist professionals care for over 40,000 patients with rare diseases. We are one of the hospitals in Spain that treats the highest number of rare conditions and one of the leading centers in Europe in this field. As of 2025, we are part of 20 European Reference Networks for rare diseases (ERN), 43 Spanish reference centers (CSUR), and the 12 expertise networks of the Department of Health (XUEC). This makes the hospital a highly specialized center for caring for these diseases throughout the entire life journey—from birth to adulthood—through a networked system that allows sharing resources and expertise with other hospitals and centers in the region.
The professionals across the various units and centers aim to improve patient access to diagnosis, information, and personalized care, as well as support research through:
The Rare Diseases Committee aims to establish a common framework for rare disease care at the hospital, identify and align the different initiatives (clinical, training, and research), deploy prioritized action lines, and monitor and evaluate outcomes in order to propose and implement improvements.
The concentration of patients with rare diseases increases knowledge and promotes research. Our Research Institute (VHIR) is a leader in both basic and clinical research. More than 14 basic research groups focus on studying rare diseases to improve diagnosis and develop new therapeutic approaches. We are the center in Spain with the highest number of clinical trials involving orphan drugs, including gene therapies, and we have a leading unit dedicated to the development of advanced therapies.
For more information, you can contact the rare disease team at: minoritaries@vallhebron.cat
Patients have very serious damage to the ocular surface (the cornea, conjunctiva and eyelids) generally caused by chemical burns or an inflammatory disease of the ocular surface such as cicatricial pemphigoid or Lyell’s syndrome.
These disorders of the ocular surface may result in very low visual acuity, irritation and pain. They are conditions significantly affecting the cornea, the conjunctiva and the eyelids; organs essential to maintaining a healthy ocular surface and therefore good vision.
Loss of vision, pain, severe dry eye syndrome, corneal damage and ulcers, infections, and even loss of the eyeball.
Diagnosis is essentially clinical. Changes in the ocular surface may present as corneal ulcers, corneal vascularization or conjunctivalization (normally the cornea tissue has no blood vessels) or due to symblepharon, which are scars that form between the conjunctiva and the eyelids.
Treatments are multiple and spread out, depending on how severely the ocular surface is affected. Natural tear substitutes are used, such as autologous serum or plasma rich in platelets. Surgical options that may be carried out are amniotic membrane grafts, corneal transplants, limbal stem cell transplant (autologous or heterogeneous), eyelid transplant, and in very severe cases, keratoprosthesis.
There is no way to prevent this serious condition of the ocular surface, but early diagnosis and treatment can limit the damage it causes.
Corneal transplantation is a procedure in which a damaged cornea is replaced with a healthy donor cornea. It is performed when diseases or injuries affect corneal clarity and function, impairing vision.
The main symptoms that are detected when a cornea is damaged are:
Clinical diagnosis is essential, but there are also different tests to see if a corneal transplant should be carried out, and in particular, what kind is required. The tests are:
The type of transplant varies depending on the affected part of the cornea.
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