Spain

January 15, 2025

Bridging the Gap in Cardiovascular Health: Madrid’s New Screening Initiative and the Need for a Comprehensive Early Detection Programme

Data show that, across Europe, cardiovascular diseases are the cause of the largest number of preventable premature deaths. These figures... View Article

September 26, 2024

Call to Action: the importance of implementing early detection mechanisms of structural heart disease (SHD) in the Spanish healthcare system

Las valvulopatías son anomalías estructurales del corazón que alteran... View Article

July 11, 2024

GENDER BIAS IN CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE CARE IN SPAIN

The increase in the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) is one of Spain’s most pressing public health issues. Similar to... View Article

February 22, 2024

The Madrid Assembly opens its doors to a member of the SHD Coalition: Maite San Saturnino’s hearing on CVD

On February 19, 2024, Maite San Saturnino, president of the Patient Platform of the Spanish Heart Foundation and member of... View Article

July 20, 2023

Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU: what to expect for cardiovascular health and SHD?

The promotion of cardiovascular health is increasingly high on the political agenda. This is the main conclusion we can derive... View Article

April 3, 2023

Spanish Cardiovascular Health Strategy (ESCAV): an inspiration for Europe

The approval of the ESCAV in 2022 entailed an important milestone in the cardiovascular health policy framework in Spain,... View Article

April 13, 2022

The efforts of the EU SHD Coalition recognised in Spanish media

Dr. Jorge Solís Martín, coordinator of the departments of cardiac imaging and valvular heart disease at the University Hospital 12 de Octubre in Madrid, writes an article about why valvular heart disease is an increasing public health threat in the Spanish schedule and how the coalition has helped focus institutional attention on these conditions. In a blog in Elconfidencial's Aliments, Dr. Solís addresses the most important needs in combating heart valve diseases disease, including the need for early detection. In particular, Dr. Solís points to the work of the EU SHD Coalition to raise awareness among institutions and policymakers. According to Dr. Solís, the Department of Valvular Heart Disease of the Cardiology Service of the Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre, with more than two thousand patients in follow-up, has become a national reference thanks to organisational efforts to address the avalanche of valvular heart patients in one of Madrid's oldest populations, which is a faithful reflection of the general situation expected in the coming decades. He acknowledged the importance of raising political awareness of the problem of valvular heart disease, welcoming the work of the EU SHD Coalition in this context. Jorge Solís, M.D., is a cardiologist, founder of the Atria Clinic and coordinator of the Cardiac Imaging and Valvular Heart Disease Departments at University Hospital 12 de Octubre in Madrid, Spain. He specialised in valvular heart disease and cardiac imaging in the United States, first for a year in Montana with renowned cardiac surgeon Carlos Duran and later for four years in the Cardiac Imaging Department at Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston, Harvard Medical School). The full article is accessible here: https://www.alimente.elconfidencial.com/bienestar/2022-03-24/enfermedad-valvulas-corazon_3396489/

March 30, 2022

State of play of SHD in Spain – Interview with our experts Prof .Rodriguez-Roda Stuart and Prof. José Luis Zamorano-Gomez

Members of the Coalition, as well as eminent and recognised experts on SHDs in Spain, Prof. Rodriguez-Roda Stuart and Prof. José Luis Zamorano-Gomez provide their view on the situation of SHD care in Spain and on the political stakes to act towards better detection and prevention on SHD. Prof. José Rodriguez-Roda Stuart is Head of the Cardiovascular Surgery Unit at Hospital Ramón y Cajal (Madrid) and Vice-president of the Spanish Society of Cardiovascular Surgery. Prof. Zamorano-Gomez is head of Cardiology Unit at Hospital Ramón y Cajal, and member of the European Society of Cardiology.

November 24, 2020

Estimated number of people with SHD in Spain

Percentages of population in Spain¹

Key facts related to SHD in Spain

8,8 billion € of direct healthcare expenditure for cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in 2020².

CVD represented 8,31% of the total health public budget in 2015³.

In 2040, 14% of people over 65 will have SHD, which represents 4,36% of the total population⁴.

Key messages

Spain is one of the fastest ageing countries in the world; soon 1 in 3 inhabitants will be over 65 years old. This will lead to an increase of the incidence of cardiovascular diseases.
Although valve disease affects gender equally, reality shows infradiagnosis within women.⁴
Heart Valve diseases account for 8% to 26% of heart failures⁵, which are the first cause of hospitalization of people over 65 years old in Spain⁶.
59% of patients diagnosed with severe aortic stenosis do not receive intervention. 14% of intervened patients remain on waiting list after one year, and 19% of them die before getting any treatment⁷.
SHD is a major cause of functional decline in the elderly population and as such, Spanish policies must tackle SHD as part of ageing strategies.
Investments in health innovations for this population are an economic necessity for Spain to adapt to the new demographic challenges.
Hospitalisations due to structural heart diseases are on the rise, even though hospitalisations for cardiovascular diseases in general have been declining during the last decade⁸

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References

Instituto Nacional de Estadística (2016) Proyecciones de Población 2016-2066 http://www.ine.es/jaxi/Tabla.htm?path=/t20/p278/p01/2016-2066/l0/&file=01001.px&L=0 [retrieved on: 25/July/2018]
Centre for Economics and Business Research (2014) Coste económico de las enfermedades cardiovasculares desde 2014 a 2020 en seis países europeos [retrieved on: 25/July/2018]
Ministerio de Sanidad, Servicios Sociales e Igualdad (2015) Diferentes series de gasto sanitario https://www.msssi.gob.es/estadEstudios/estadisticas/sisInfSanSNS/pdf/diferentesSeriesGastoSanitario.pdf [retrieved on: 25/July/2018]
Ferreira-González I et al. Prevalence of calcific aortic valve disease in the elderly and associated risk factors: a population-based study in a Mediterranean area.Eur J Prev Cardiol. 2013 Dec;20(6):1022-30. doi: 10.1177/2047487312451238. Epub 2012 Jun 7.0140673606692088
Nkomo VT et al. Burden of valvular heart diseases: a population-based study. The Lancet. 2006 Sep;368(9540):1005-11. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(06)69208-8.
I. Sayago-Silva et al. Epidemiología de la insuficiencia cardíaca en España en los últimos 20 años, Rev. Esp. Cardiol., 2013;66:649-56 – Vol. 66 Núm.08 doi: 10.1016/j.recesp.2013.03.014.
González Saldivar H, et al. Prognosis of Patients With Severe Aortic Stenosis After the Decision to Perform an Intervention. Rev Esp Cardiol. 2018. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rec.2018.03.023
Recent Trends in Hospitalizations for Cardiovascular Disease, Stroke, and Vascular Cognitive Impairment in Canada https://www.onlinecjc.ca/article/S0828-282X(20)30260-9/pdf