The La Fe Cystic Fibrosis Unit has been accredited as a reference unit by the Valencian Community.

The Adult Cystic Fibrosis Unit of the University and Polytechnic Hospital La Fe de Valencia has been accredited by the Ministry of Health as a reference unit.

Thanks to this accreditation, the hospital centre becomes a reference centre for patients with this pathology for the entire Valencian Community for a period of five years.

The Cystic Fibrosis Unit treats an average of 220 patients per year with cystic fibrosis, which is approximately 80% of other health units in the Valencian Community.

The Adult Cystic Fibrosis Unit is a multidisciplinary unit that works in coordination with specialists in gastroenterology, hepatology, endocrinology and nutrition, otolaryngology, general, hepatobiliary and pediatric surgery, radiology, pharmacy, obstetrics and gynecology (including assisted reproduction specialists), infectious diseases and preventive medicine, rheumatology, ophthalmology and nephrology.

Along with all of these specialties, and with new advances and greater survival of these patients, social work, psychology and nursing are key players in health care.

Cystic fibrosis is an inherited disease of the mucus and sweat glands that mainly affects the lungs, pancreas, liver, and intestines, among others. Cystic fibrosis makes mucus thick and sticky, which causes breathing problems and promotes the growth of bacteria that cause repeated lung infections and damage.

This is a rare disease that requires advanced technology in adulthood due to the complexity of the respiratory pathology, multisystem involvement and complications that elude the usual approach of respiratory services.

The improvement of these patients, explains Amparo Sole, the department’s coordinator, “is based on a comprehensive therapeutic approach, early diagnosis with genetic counseling and early family education. In addition, careful monitoring with frequent visits and aggressive therapy from the first symptoms are required.”

This reference unit will concentrate cases from the Valencian Community, “taking charge of diagnosis and treatment and promoting their detection in the links closest to the patient through a training program. In this direction, patients are monitored in conjunction with the health centers that referred them, and therefore they are closer to the environment,” adds the doctor.

New advances in the treatment of cystic fibrosis

In 2021, a triple therapy that modulates the genetically mutated protein was approved in Spain. This new treatment is used for more than 65% of patients with this disease, and its use means that they must be monitored differently than the rest. Therefore, as the doctor explains, since there are different patient profiles, “the reference unit will focus all research and specialized care on developing new treatments that will help 100% of people with cystic fibrosis.”

Some people with cystic fibrosis eventually require organ transplants, Sole said: “In fact, in this unit, a total of 66 patients are being treated with lung transplants, three with liver transplants and six with kidney transplants.”

“La Fe Hospital has all types of solid organ transplants, which facilitates comprehensive patient monitoring,” the specialist concluded.

This accreditation, as explained by José Luis Poveda, Director of Health at Valencia La Fe, “responds to an identified need in health care and its creation is part of the objectives of the Patient Care Quality Plan 2022-2025 of La Faith Hospital.”