Specifically, it has been designated as a UEC in interstitial lung diseases, ventilatory disorders and respiratory malformations.
Rare respiratory diseases are a very heterogeneous group of pathologies that can affect either only the lungs or multiple organs and systems of the body. Their aetiology is multifactorial (genetic, environmental, immune...) and, in many cases, still unknown. Many of them are severe, disabling, and have a strong impact on the quality of life and life expectancy of those people affected by them.
The designation of UEC by the Catalan Health Service has taken place within the framework of a call published last September, after the evaluation committee studied the cases undertaken by each centre as well as other criteria of expertise, clinical aptitude and multidisciplinary approach.
With this designation, the teams treating these diseases at Bellvitge are integrated into the XUEC network of centres designated as experts in these diseases, in order to offer more expert and efficient care to all patients in Catalonia.
Bellvitge Hospital has already been designated in other calls as a UEC in lysosomal diseases, neuromuscular diseases, primary adult immunodeficiencies and systemic autoimmune diseases.