Cardiovascular Diseases and Child Development
Research Program
Where we are
SJD Barcelona Children's Hospital
Related websites
SJD Barcelona Children’s Hospital 
Our research efforts include a major clinical component that seeks to address a specific set of clinical challenges. The impact of our research on the health system and society in general could be far-reaching as most of our projects focus on health issues and diseases with high morbidity and mortality rates.
Our hospital is a RCSU-accredited reference centre for congenital heart surgery and for the treatment and management of paediatric arrhythmias. We are also a RCSU centre for inherited heart diseases and one of the coordinating centres for the European Network in Paediatric Cardiology.
The SJD Barcelona Children's Hospital is now the leading centre for cardiac surgeries with over 300 surgeries per year, the highest in the country, including about 165 surgeries a year with extracorporeal circulation. It is also both a national and European reference centre not only in terms of the number of surgeries but, more importantly, for its extremely low (<1%) surgical mortality rates. Our team coordinates, jointly with other basic research groups, the European network in addition to our investigations into the pathophysiology of some of these diseases.
The group has been a member of the Maternal and Child Health and Development Research Network (SAMID) since 2018 and a designated emerging research group by the AGAUR since 2016 (Government of Catalonia, SGR reference).
Research lines
- Impact of congenital heart disease on neurodevelopment: from foetus to adulthood, focusing on identifying the mechanisms leading to brain injury in patients with heart disease undergoing cardiac surgery, with the aim of identifying predictors of poor prognosis.
- Research on paediatric arrhythmias and sudden death (SD) syndrome, on SD risk stratification, exploring possible new SD molecular markers and developing new non-invasive diagnostic strategies.
- Cardiac functioning and monitoring: computational analysis and advanced imaging techniques, developing computational models and new imaging techniques for the study of cardiac functioning as well as the development of new monitoring systems.
Scientific objectives
- To develop and validate biomarkers for the diagnosis of post-op neuronal lesions.
- To develop new strategies to monitor brain function.
- To develop new preventive and therapeutic strategies to reduce brain injury associated with cardiac surgery.
- To describe and functionally validate new genes implicated in SD.
- To develop computational models to virtually study the pathophysiological behaviour of congenital heart diseases.
Area/Field of expertise
Our group is made up of clinicians from different specialities (neonatologists, cardiologists, intensivists, surgeons, etc.) as well as psychologists, biologists, molecular biologists, lab technicians and engineering scientists who together offer a multidisciplinary approach to the challenges posed by research into cardiovascular diseases in the early stages of life. As well as deploying the most advanced clinical diagnostic methodologies (such as MRI, integrated amplitude electroencephalogram, brain oxygenation monitors, etc.), our laboratory performs basic lab techniques needed to measure brain injury and oxidative stress biomarkers.
We have devised experimental models to study brain injury in an animal model of paediatric extracorporeal circulation. This not only allows us to observe the mechanisms implicated in the injury but also to contemplate possible new therapeutic strategies.
Group members
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Jefe de Grupo
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Investigador
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Investigador
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Técnico
Last Publications
- Campuzano O, Sarquella-Brugada G, Cesar S, Arbelo E, Brugada-Terradellas J and Brugada R Update on Genetic Basis of Brugada Syndrome: Monogenic, Polygenic or Oligogenic? INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES . 21(19): .
- Abulí M, Grazioli G, Sanz de la Garza M, Montserrat S, Vidal B, Doltra A, Sarquella-Brugada G, Bellver M, Pi R, Brotons D, Oxborough D and Sitges M Aortic root remodelling in competitive athletes. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PREVENTIVE CARDIOLOGY . 27(14): 1518-1526.
- Andrés Fernando Almario Hernández, Boada Farràs M, Aurensanz Clemente E and Sanchez-de-Toledo J Dificultad respiratoria en el servicio de urgencias como manifestación de una enfermedad cardíaca rara en niños: origen anómalo de la arteria coronaria izquierda en la arteria pulmonar. ANALES DE PEDIATRIA . 93(3): 208-210.
Projects
- Project name:
- ECG neonatal sistemático para la detección precoz de enfermedades cardiacas relacionadas con la muerte súbita del lactante
- Leader
- Georgia Sarquella Brugada
- Funding entities:
- Sociedad Española de Cardiologia
- Code
- PCP00237
- Starting - finishing date:
- 2019 - 2020
- Project name:
- Utilidad de la neuromonitorización integrada como predictor del neurodesarrollo en pacientes sometidos a cirugía cardíaca en edad pediátrica: de la clínica al modelo animal pediátrico
- Leader
- Joan Sanchez de Toledo
- Funding entities:
- Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII)
- Code
- PI17/02198
- Starting - finishing date:
- 2018 - 2020
- Project name:
- GUARD-HEART: Gateway to Uncommon And Rare Diseases of the HEART
- Leader
- Georgia Sarquella Brugada
- Funding entities:
- European Commission
- Code
- 769015
- Starting - finishing date:
- 2017 - 2019
Theses
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Implementación de un Modelo de evaluación de conocimiento en Cardiología Pediátrica
- Institution
- UNIVERSIDAD DE MURCIA
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ECG como herramienta para diagnóstico para la enfermedad de Kawasaki
- Institution
- UNIVERSIDAD EUROPEA DE MADRID
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Cambios de remodelado ventricular en enfermedades neuromusculares
- Author
- César Diaz, Sergio
- Institution
- UNIVERSIDAD DE BARCELONA
News
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Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu and ICFO create a joint lab to improve neonatal and paediatric health care
The new joint laboratory will advance the use and development of photonic technologies to understand, diagnose, monitor and treat paediatric diseases.
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First scientific conference on nanotechnology and rare diseases
The Spanish nanomedicine platform (Nanomed Spain), together with the Sant Joan de Déu Research Institute and the IBEC (Institute of Bioengineering of Catalonia), organised an event within the framework of the Rare Disease Day at which they presented the latest innovations in the field of nanomedicine for the treatment and diagnosis of these diseases.