Tech & Science
kidney
Tech & Science
Catalan health service opens two new clinical expertise networks for rare diseases
Units from different hospitals will coordinate to focus on neuromuscular disorders and primary immunodeficiencies
Tech & Science
Child with rare disease receives Spain's first pediatric heart, liver and kidney transplant
Operated on at Barcelona's Vall d'Hebron, 10-year-old is disease's longest survivor and sole triple transplant recipient
Society
First time creating “micro-kidneys” from stem cells
Society
A Catalan study shows that a world-pioneering dialysis technique reduces patient mortality by 30%
The technique started in Catalonia in 2007 and by 2011 it was practiced on 40% of patients with renal failure. The Catalan Health Ministry hopes to cover 100% of the cases within the next 5 to 10 years. In the United States it started being used a year ago as they were waiting for clinical results to expand its use. Now, a clinical study on 900 patients from 27 different Catalan centres has proved that the technique reduces mortality by 30% on patients with kidney failure within the first three years. In addition, it improves quality of life, reduces hospitalisations by 22% and it also makes hypotension episodes drop by 28%.