We are a leading healthcare campus encompassing all fields of health: from healthcare and research to teaching and management.
Professionalism, commitment and research by professionals on the Campus are the key elements in offering patients excellent care.
We are committed to research as a tool to provide solutions to the daily challenges we face in the field of medical healthcare.
Thanks to our healthcare, teaching and research potential, we work to incorporate new knowledge to generate value for patients, professionals and the organization itself.
We generate, transform and transmit knowledge in all areas of the health sciences, helping to train the professionals of the future.
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At the Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery and Transplant Department, we dedicate ourselves to hepatic (liver), pancreatic and biliary surgery, as well as cancer surgery. This mainly involves surgery related to the surgical and onco-surgical treatment of tumours or liver metastases, liver and bowel transplants in children and adults, and intestinal transplants. Our Children’s Liver Transplant Programme is the only one of its kind in Catalonia, and one of just five in Spain. Our excellent results make us a national leader.
The Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery and Transplant Department is highly specialised, and is independent of the General Surgery Department, which is not very common in general surgery departments. We are organised into two sections: one section devoted mainly to liver surgery and liver and intestine transplants, and another aimed at pancreatic surgery and advanced laparoscopic surgery.
Vall d'Hebron was the first health centre in Spain to carry out a paediatric liver transplant in 1985. With more than 30 years of accumulated experience acquired since the first transplant was carried out, the hospital is home to an amazing group of professionals: anaesthetists, intensivists, radiologists, gastroenterologists, hepatologists and more, all trained to treat the most complex cases with very high survival rates. This survival rate is more than 90% at five and six years after the transplant. We are deeply proud that we have been able to achieve such figures.
To do so, and to offer the best service to our patients, we work closely with other hospital departments, mainly with Internal Medicine and Hepatology, Intensive Care, Oncology, Gastroenterology, Radiology and Pathological Anatomy.
At the General and Digestive Surgery Department we provide care for patients who need surgical treatment. The professional team is divided into subspecialties, which means our professionals have a high degree of knowledge in various specific areas. This high level of specialisation, together with our research, is key to offering the best service and maintaining our place as leaders, both in Spain and in Europe, in the treatment of various diseases.
The General and Digestive Surgery Unit is divided up into four independent sub-units, each of which is a benchmark in its sub-speciality: The Colon and Rectal Surgery Unit, the Endocrine, Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Unit, the Oesophagogastric Surgery Unit and the Abdominal Wall Surgery Unit.
This Department carries out activity across several areas: hospitalisation, emergencies, outpatient clinics and in local primary care centres: Chafarinas and Sant Andreu. Outpatient and walk in surgery is carried out at the Pere Virgili Health Park.
Our team of professionals are also members of various multidisciplinary teams, such as the Breast Pathology and Gynaecological Oncology Surgery units, both part of the Gynaecology Department. This multidisciplinary working method, together with our high level of specialisation, allow us to offer our patients the highest quality care.
The Surgical Block, which opened in 2016, means we can work in integrated operating theatres equipped with all the latest technology, which guarantees the highest quality and safety in surgery, ultimately leading to the best quality of care for our patients.
The General Surgery Service is part of the Research Institute’s General and Digestive Surgery Research Group (VHIR), as recognised by the Catalan government's University and Research Grant Management Agency (AGAUR) (2017 SGR 1476)
At Vall d'Hebron University Hospital, we have a teaching unit that trains postgraduate students in general and digestive surgery. We regularly organise continued education courses accredited by the Catalan Council for Continuing Education in the Health Professions, and we actively participate in teaching as part of the medical degree course at the Vall d'Hebron University Hospital Teaching Unit, part of the Faculty of Medicine of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) and the PhD Programme of the Surgery Department of the UAB.
The Colon and Rectal Surgery Unit is responsible for the diagnosis and treatment of pathologies of the colon, rectum and anus.
The Colon and Rectal Surgery Unit is a reference centre for this type of operation, and is responsible for the diagnosis and treatment of disorders of the colon, rectum and anus. Currently, the medical team is made up of surgeons who are devoted exclusively to coloproctology.
The Cardiology Department diagnoses and treats heart diseases. These include ischaemic heart diseases such as myocardial infarcts and angina. As well as cardiac insufficiency, valvulopathies, familial heart disease and arrhythmias.
Cardiovascular diseases are the main cause of premature death in most developed countries.
The Vall d’Hebron Cardiology Department offers specialist care, with advanced procedures and the most innovative technology. It is a pioneer in developing and running clinical-practice protocols. It provides patient-centred service and offers medical care agreed on by the entire Cardiology team. Notable features include its own Clinical Epidemiology Unit and Experimental Cardiology Laboratory.
The Cardiology Department boasts 37 highly qualified professionals, with specific skills and training. The team is divided up into the following units:
These units are at the forefront of heart-disease treatment and offer multidisciplinary care for patients. The department aims to meet the future challenges of cardiology. A few examples of this are the Familial Heart Disease and Complex Congenital Heart Disease Units. And procedures such as transcatheter valve implanting and treatment for pregnant women with heart disease or endocarditis.
The nursing team is also a key feature for offering excellent care. They take part in every diagnostic and therapeutic procedure, in educating patients, in secondary prevention for the early detection of diseasesand in patient rehabilitation. Their work is especially important for elderly patients with multiple illnesses. Such patients have several programmes at their disposal, including clinical care and cardiac rehabilitation for ischaemic heart disease. The programmes are provided in coordination with the referred area’s primary care and gyms.
The research group in cardiovascular diseases carries out basic, clinical and epidemiological research. Its aim is to generate knowledge for improving prevention and patient diagnoses and treatment. The group has 19 main researchers and 32 clinical projects and trials currently running. It published 142 papers in 2020.
The research group is part of the CIBERCV network, the Biomedical Research Networking Centre on Cardiovascular Diseases. It collaborates in the following areas:
The research group takes part in the CIBERESP, the Biomedical Research Networking Consortium on Epidemiology and Public Health. It focuses on the following aspects:
The Vall d’Hebron training programme includes:
The Cardiology MIR programme’s success enables the recruitment of high-level doctors to the hospital.
The Cardiology Department also includes and jointly supervises an international doctoral school at the University of Barcelona as well as organising important scientific meetings. Vall d’Hebron enjoys international recognition for all the above reasons as well as considerable impact on many areas of knowledge. The department’s professionals collaborate in prestigious international bodies and societies, as well as on the editorial boards of scientific magazines in their field.
The Cardiac Surgery Department provides care for patients with heart diseases who need an operation. This branch of medicine is highly specialised and requires expert staff. Our department is a pioneer in the Catalan public health system that has grown significantly since it was officially created on 24 January 1972.
Our current catchment area covers over one million people from the north-eastern part of Catalonia, including the counties of Girona and Lleida and the north of the Barcelonès county. This is an extensive geographical area, though its population density is lower than others.
Our activity at the Cardiac Surgery Department has been linked to the history of medicine and, more specifically, to the history of cardiac surgery in Catalonia. The Department's development, then, has been made possible thanks to the advances made in cardiac surgery and cardiology in general. Also relevant here is its expansion, from an initial national health system that developed into the current regional health system, regulated by the Catalan Health Service through the Catalan Health Institute.
The history of our Department dates back to the 1960s, when Dr. Paravisini performed the first surgical operations to repair the mitral valve in the heart, known as "mitral comissurotomies”. The following years saw the beginnings of cardiac surgery using extracorporeal circulation, a technique employed for replacing the heart’s function as a pump and enabling the heart to be stopped and operated on. Surgical operations became standard by the end of the 1970s. It was not until the 80s, however, with the arrival of Dr. Murtra, that there could be said to be a protocol-based programme of operations that produced pioneering results at the time. The number of patients treated has steadily increased: from 400 cases a year using extracorporeal circulation in the 1980s, to 600 at present.
The current catchment area covers over one million people from the north-eastern part of Catalonia, which includes the counties of Girona and Lleida and the north of the Barcelonès county. This is an extensive geographical area, though its population density is lower than others. We created the Multihospital Care Service to provide care for this area.
Resident cardiovascular surgeons and other specialist doctors working as locums for our Department, jointly take part in pre-operative studies with the Department team, both in surgical indications and in surgical procedures, with a varying degree of involvement, depending on their level of training. These doctors join the Post-Operative Cardiac Surgery Unit (UPCC) immediately after cardiac surgery, provide postoperative care on the ward, and take part in monitoring patients through outpatient consultations.
Units making up the Department
The Cardiology Department Arrhythmia Unit treats heart rhythm disorders. It is responsible for diagnosis, treatment, research and training for all illnesses related to arrhythmias. These may be slow or fast. Slow arrhythmias often need a pacemaker to be fitted. Fast arrhythmias may cause the patient to lose consciousness, or even cardiac arrest.
The Arrhythmia Unit works closely with the Critical Cardiology Unit, the Adult Congenital Heart Disease Unit, and the Inpatient and Cardiac Surgery Areas. The Arrhythmia Unit was created in 1975. Since then it has expanded and specialises in various fields. The most important are as follows:
The Arrhythmia Unit has two theatres. One of them is completely dedicated to procedures such as:
The unit also has specific clinics to treat and monitor patients with cardiac arrhythmia. These include consultations about devices and five clinics dealing with the following matters:
In 2019, the unit carried out:
The Arrhythmia Unit works jointly with the Paediatric Cardiology Department on invasive treatment of cardiac arrhythmia in paediatric patients.
People can suffer from slow arrhythmia or fast arrhythmia. This often occurs in hearts affected by a cardiac disease, but also occurs in hearts with a normal structure.The most common fast arrhythmia is atrial fibrillation, which requires medical treatment and, occasionally, ablation with a catheter. This is a safe procedure and commonly gives good results.The most common slow arrhythmias are those that appear with age. They are caused by degeneration of the heart’s electrical system. They usually require a pacemaker to be fitted.
The Arrhythmia Unit also carries out common non-invasive procedures such as:
The Arrhythmia Unit has extensive experience in researching the field of cardiac arrhythmias. It has published many times in specialist journals. The following research lines are highlights:
The Arrhythmia Unit's team of professionals take active part in academic education and practical training on the medicine and nursing degree courses. Cardiology residents usually spend time at the unit, along with residents in other specialities at the hospital. Residents from other hospitals in the Vall d’Hebron area and from other Spanish, European and Latin American hospitals also do so, if they are interested in training on the treatment of arrhythmia diseases.
The unit's team regularly takes part in training activities outside the hospital. The unit offers the following specific, staff training courses periodically:
The Arrhythmia Unit has a coordinator and four assistants. They work with the nursing staff, consisting of seven specialist professionals, who deal with caring for patients and doing the invasive electrophysiology treatments. They also monitor patients with intracardiac devices on-site and remotely.
At the Angiology, Vascular Surgery and Endovascular Surgery Department we study and provide medical treatment of arterial, venous and lymphatic diseases in order to facilitate early diagnosis and offer patients the best treatment
This Department mainly offers care for and research into our medical and surgical specialty, which is focused on the treatment of arterial, venous and lymphatic diseases in four main aspects:
Our Hospital is part of the Autonomous University of Barcelona, where we teach vascular surgery to the students of the Faculty of Medicine. We also work to train both resident doctors and people from other departments and hospitals who come to do rotations at our Hospital.
We are the leading angiology and vascular surgery department for public care in Spain, and since 1967 we have provided care and research and promoted the teaching of our area of knowledge.
The Anaesthesia, Resuscitation and Pain Management Department provides comprehensive perioperative care for surgical patients, from their arrival to the hospital until they return home. We offer care with more than 30,000 operations a year.
At the Anaesthesia Department, our mission is to offer comprehensive perioperative care, from the moment the patient arrives at the clinic or hospital, during the operation and beyond.
We have a staff of professionals specialised in all areas, essential for the large number of transplants of all kinds that are performed at our Hospital. We should also mention our nursing team specialising in anaesthesia, who begin their career at our Department.
The Department is divided into four main geographical and care areas:
The Department encompasses several key working areas:
Outpatient preoperative consultations work with primary care in processes such as obstetrics and endoscopy labs. Preparatory and postoperative care are of vital importance in establishing a good flow of patients, especially in areas such as resuscitation.
Patients attended to by the Pain Unit have often been treated previously. This is due to the nature of their problem and the difficulty in solving the symptoms they suffer. This is why we have established fast-stream resolution and care schemes using a mobile application. Patients can inform us from their home of the degree of pain, thus improving their quality of life.
The Allergology Department treats patients with allergies, a very common pathology that now affects approximately one in four people.
At the Allergology Department, our mission is to provide care for people with allergy-related diseases and to improve their quality of life, in accordance with their needs and wishes. The key to achieving this is comprehensive care. We work hard to provide faster, reliable diagnoses and offer personalised treatments.
The diseases that we treat in our Department include: respiratory allergies (asthma and rhinitis), food allergies, allergy to medications as well as skin diseases, such as hives, atopic dermatitis and contact dermatitis. Often, a patient can present more than one of these diseases or problems, meaning it is important that a single professional be able to assess them jointly.
We also deal with "rare" pathologies, mainly hereditary angioedema, which is a disorder that causes inflammation of the face and the respiratory tract, as well as abdominal cramps; systemic mastocytosis, which is a disease of the blood or haemopathy; eosinophilic oesophagitis, which is an inflammation of the oesophagus wall, and allergies to hymenoptera poisons (insects such as ants, bumble bees, wasps, and others).
At our Department, we work in accordance with the Health Department's Allergy Care Model. As a reference centre in our region, we provide care for complex allergy-related pathologies, which requires appropriate infrastructure to carry out diagnostic risk tests, such as tests for allergies to medication, foods, hymenoptera or occupational respiratory allergy, meaning allergies acquired at work. We also possess the necessary allergies laboratory, with specialist staff and equipment, in order to diagnose allergies.
Tests involving a certain level of risk are carried out at the Day Hospital, where the necessary resources are available to deal with any possible adverse reactions. These tests are mainly used to diagnose allergies to medication.
Strokes are the second leading cause of death in Spain, and the most frequent cause of disability in adults around the world. Every two seconds, someone suffers a stroke and it is estimated that one in six people will suffer one in their lifetime. In fact, it is one of the pathologies that requires the longest hospital stay and the second most common cause of dementia.
The Stroke and Cerebral Haemodynamics Unit provides excellent comprehensive care to patients who have had a cerebral infarction. The main aspects of the Unit’s activity are: to promote innovation, continuous improvement of quality care, teaching, research and clinical management.
Our mission at the Stroke and Cerebral Haemodynamics Unit is to achieve the highest quality healthcare standards through defined quality objectives. We aspire to make our unit a centre for clinical management providing comprehensive, multidisciplinary care for strokes in the acute phase, focused on achieving a high level of excellence as a level three centre for the resolution of the most complex cases of neurovascular pathology.
Members of the Stroke Unit share the values of commitment, teamwork, innovation and vocation to serve, all to help achieve the following strategic objectives:
Our multi-disciplinary team is made up of eight vascular neurologists, three neuro-interventionists, two stroke nurses per shift, rehabilitators and nursing assistants. We work closely with professionals from other specialties such as neuroradiology, cardiology, neurosurgery and rehabilitation. This means that in 80% of cases, only 12 hours pass between the arrival of patients and admission to the Unit , which allows patients to be diagnosed in 48 hours in 80% of cases, reducing the average stay to under 2.9 days, despite receiving highly complex cases.
The progress we have made in recent years has secured our position as leaders both locally and nationally, thanks to the development of innovative and effective treatments that reduce the social and economic burden of strokes in our society. This allows us to be pioneers:
Technology is a tool to help improve the health and quality of life of our patients. A good example of this is the mobile apps we work with, such as Farmalarm, an instrument for patients who have returned home after suffering a stroke and which allows them to receive continuous, personalised monitoring to make sure they comply with their treatment plans and controlling vascular risk factors.
We also have the Teleictus Mòbil system to assess and follow up on patients via videoconference before they arrive at the Hospital, and we use telemedicine to perform non-invasive neurovascular scans for 24 hours, offering high-quality urgent care for strokes, not just in our referral area, but also in other centres that do not have on-call neurologists.
Urgent neurological clinical assessment, available 24 hours a day 7 days a week (24/7).
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