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.
A heart transplant is when a new heart is implanted. When the organs to be transplanted are the heart and the lungs, this is known as a “cardiopulmonary” transplant. This procedure is necessary when the patient suffers from a heart failure that limits their daily activity and all other treatment options have been exhausted.
The purpose of the transplant is to implant a heart from another person (usually from a donor in a state of brain death) to take over the functions of the heart of the sick person. Sometimes, heart disease causes lung problems or vice versa: pulmonary disease can cause heart disease. In these cases, the heart and the lungs must be transplanted, which is called a "cardiopulmonary transplant". Depending on the type of illness, one or both organs will be transplanted, whatever offers the maximum benefit at the lowest risk.
Before the intervention, a team of professionals must study the patient following a clinical and surgical protocol in order to guarantee success.
The operation is performed under general anaesthesia. During the process of heart transplant, the sick heart is removed and in its place a new one is implanted. Sometimes, it is also necessary to transplant the lungs.
In order to perform these operations, a multidisciplinary team of highly specialised and experienced professionals is required, as well as advanced technology and appropriate facilities.
Post-operative care is handled by the Intensive Care Unit, where intensive doctors, cardiac surgeons, cardiologists and pulmonologists take care of the patient until they are stable, when they are then moved on to a conventional hospital ward.
During this process, the doctor indicates personalised immunosuppressive therapy programme and infection prevention to be followed by the patient, along with any appropriate modifications that might be needed during the post-operative period.
A transfusion of blood and/or haemoderivatives is used to replace blood components that are vital for the survival of patients: blood cells, platelets and plasma, which cannot be replaced by other alternatives.
This treatment is indicated in patients who present a lack of essential blood components at any given time.
Transfusions carry a set of risks and the decision to undergo a transfusion should only be taken by a doctor after looking at the patient’s condition and taking an analysis and assessment of the situation. In this case, patients must always sign an authorisation document called an “informed consent” form.
Blood and its components are obtained from volunteers and altruistic donors. Before making a blood donation, donors must fill out a questionnaire about their state of health and, in addition, they must undergo a medical examination. All the blood components obtained are then analysed to make sure there are no diseases that can be transmitted through the blood.
Before making the transfusion, we must verify the blood derivative is compatible with the patient's blood. The physician in charge must assess the risk and benefits of treatment for the patient.
All the components are administered through a vein with a venous catheter.
Although blood transfusions are now very safe, some undesired side effects may occur:
The transmission of infectious diseases associated with blood is very unlikely nowadays. All donated blood is subject to prior analysis to find out about the blood group and prevent the transmission of infectious diseases such as syphilis, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, HIV, Chagas disease and infectious diseases
The transmission of infectious diseases associated with blood is very unlikely nowadays. All donated blood is subject to prior analysis to find out about the blood group and prevent the transmission of infectious diseases such as syphilis, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, HIV, Chagas disease and human T-lymphotrophic virus.
Chemotherapy consists of combining different types of medications that destroy cancer cells in different ways. It acts on these cells that are rapidly reproducing, cancer cells and healthy cells, too.
Chemotherapy is administered in different ways and for various reasons:
The human body is made up of different cells that each have a certain function. Cancer begins when a group of cells reproduces very quickly and uncontrollably. This affects the cells’ function and, therefore, stops the body functioning normally.
Chemotherapy acts on these cells, which may or may not be cancerous, that are rapidly reproducing. This causes side effects, which will depend on the medication, dose, duration and each individual person.
Chemotherapy can be intravenous or oral, meaning it can be administered by the vein or by the mouth. The first option is the most common.
To administer this treatment, sometimes a catheter is left in place that is then connected to a disc below the skin. The medication is administered through this device. This catheter is called a port-a-cath, although there are more types of catheters. The way the vein is accessed depends on the characteristics of the person and the duration of the treatment.
Chemotherapy is applied at intervals and the duration depends on the type of programme, control and treatment.
Chemotherapy can produce the following side effects:
The mission of the Coordination of Donation and Transplant Programmes Team is to lead, integrate and optimise the processes of donations and transplants. It works to offer maximum guarantees of quality, safety and efficiency, with the aim of achieving a high level of health guarantees (donor/recipient) and an improvement in quality of life of the patients who need a transplant.
Our hospital was a pioneer in creating the role of the transplant coordinator. Child and adult transplant teams are coordinated to ease the transition and integration of paediatric patients to adulthood.
Vall d’Hebron University Hospital (HUVH) is one of the most active centres in organ and tissue transplants and in nine of the ten adult and paediatric solid organ transplant programmes in Spain. We are a reference centre for lung transplants (adult and children), kidney transplants and paediatric liver transplants.
In addition to providing multidisciplinary care for patients of all ages who suffer this condition, the objectives of Vall d’Hebron Hospital’s Hereditary Angioedema Unit include teaching and research in this field.
The Hereditary Angioedema Unit (UAEH) of Vall d’Hebron University Hospital’s Allergology Department has been treating patients with this disorder for more than 25 years.
UAEH outpatients are treated by allergology specialists in a multidisciplinary manner in the Outpatient Clinic in the Old Nursing School and in the Children’s and Women’s Hospital, ensuring transference and continuity of care from childhood through to adulthood for this genetic, lifelong condition.
The Unit is made up of a team of specialist paediatricians, paediatric nursing staff, paediatric resident doctors working in shifts during their training, nursing assistants, paediatric nursing residents, porters, administrative and cleaning staff who share work and experiences for the sole purpose of offering the best care to the boys and girls in the Unit. We are experts in emergency care for children with complex diseases (patients with solid-organ or bone-marrow transplants, immunosuppressed patients, etc.,) in synergy with the other units in our centre. We are also part of the Paediatrics Department, offering comprehensive care to children who are poorly.
Our Paediatric Emergency Unit attends to patients up to the age of 16, except for children with chronic diseases requiring very specific treatment who may be attended to by our Unit even when they are over this age limit.
Besides making visits to assess children's emergency medical or surgical pathology, and appointments for patients who require clinical monitoring after our consultation, we also have an Observation ward for admitting patients who require hospitalisation.
The Immunology Department performs routine and complex immune system diagnostic tests, assessing and interpreting them in a clinical context. For complex testing, we act as a reference laboratory for other Catalan Health Institute centres when these centres request our help.
Most healthcare activities consist of diagnostic testing, and assessment and opinion, where applicable. Within this practice, we provide direct and continuous advice to clinical practitioners, by email, telephone as well as in person. We also design and improve diagnostic tests and protocols that allow diagnostic methods to be continually updated and bring clinical services into line with clinical requirements. Teaching and research are both crucial for the work that we are doing.
The aim of the Clinical Pharmacology Department is to promote a reasoned, safe, effective and efficient use of medication at Vall d'Hebron University Hospital. Together with the Catalan Institute of Pharmacology Foundation, we are a WHO Collaborating Centre for Pharmacoepidemiology Research and Investigation.
Our activities are split into healthcare and institutional support, research, and education and training.
The department is made up of professionals from the Catalan Health Institute (ICS) and the Institute for Diagnostic Imaging (IDI). We use the most advanced techniques and help generalise their application to improve patient care and the quality of diagnostic and therapeutic examinations.
The Radiodiagnosis Department offers a wide range of examinations. Requests are analysed to establish their suitability, and a standard individualised study protocol for each clinical situation is assigned. Protocols are revised and updated regularly to ensure the quality and relevance of the studies. The department is organised into sections, following an “Organ and System” structure, which means we are properly integrated into the rest of the hospital, ensuring a high degree of specialisation in each area:
The mission of the Dermatology Department at the Vall d'Hebron University Hospital is the diagnosis, treatment (medical and surgical) and prevention of diseases of the skin, subcutis, mucous membranes and annexes, as well as the symptoms of systemic diseases that affect the skin and systemic manifestations of skin diseases. The Department is a reference centre in complex dermatological problems that require specialised treatments.
Dermatology in Vall d'Hebron has three main areas of action:
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