The Spanish Society of Cardiology (SEC) has awarded the SEC-Excellent certificate to the Familial Heart Diseases Unit of the Bellvitge University Hospital (HUB) for the treatment of genetic cardiovascular diseases. This unit is closely linked to the BIOHEART research group in Cardiovascular Diseases of IDIBELL.
Under the umbrella of inherited cardiovascular diseases comes a broad group of conditions that share the concept of heritability. The SEC has designated accredited units for these heart disorders in response to the need for continued updating of cardiology specialists. In this way, they can keep up with the rapid evolution of knowledge about these diseases, particularly with regard to the clinical implications of genetic information. In recent years, various international consensus documents and clinical guidelines have been published on the diagnosis and treatment of cardiomyopathies, channelopathies and various aortic diseases of genetic origin. All of them stress the need to carry out an exhaustive study of the pathology, including genetic studies and the need to study the affected patients’ relatives.
The SEC-Excellent certification is awarded after an audit by the SEC, which looks into all these requirements. In the case of the HUB Familial Heart Diseases Unit, all of them have been evaluated as fulfilled. The achievement of this certification has been possible thanks to the work of both the staff from the HUB’s Cardiology Service (Heart Failure and Transplant Unit, Arrhythmia Unit, Haemodynamics, Advanced Heart Imaging, Coronary Unit, Multidisciplinary Unit for Community Heart Failure Care) and staff from other collaborating services (clinical genetics, internal medicine, neurology, pulmonology, nephrology, digestive system, advanced clinical nursing and IDIBELL database management).
The impact of the HUB’s Familial Heart Diseases Unit All patients with inherited genetic cardiovascular disease, with complex cardiomyopathies of unclear cause that cannot be approached by conventional techniques, with neuromuscular diseases and potential cardiovascular involvement, as well as patients with familial heart disease, are candidates for evaluation at the unit's consultation. Relatives of patients who have suffered a sudden death occurred due to a potentially genetic cardiovascular cause are also seen.
The unit's team carries out specific diagnostic studies, therapeutic optimisation and prognostic stratification of complex cardiomyopathies. Patients are also educated about genetic cardiovascular diseases in order to adapt their daily activities to their disease, and the possibility of genetic testing and counselling is assessed.