Unit of Systemic Autoimmune Diseases

The Autoimmune Diseases Units offers excellent specialized medical care and carries out teaching, research and dissemination tasks in the field of systemic autoimmune diseases. It also coordinates with other services that deal with organ-specific autoimmune diseases.

Autoimmune diseases are a group of conditions of unknown cause in which the immune system is altered and attacks organs in the body itself. Currently, more than 110 such diseases are known and some epidemiological studies estimate that more than 10% of the population has some autoimmune disease.

In a third of these diseases there is a widespread attack on the whole body; these are known as systemic autoimmune diseases. They are made evident by a simultaneous or successive involvement of most organs and systems and have several autoantibodies as biological markers.

The Unit works in several healthcare areas: conventional hospitalization, day hospital, outpatient consultations and a complementary examination office. In these sections, the most up-to-date diagnostic technologies and therapeutic measures are accessed to offer the best medical and personalized care to patients.

It also col·laborates with various sections of the Hospital, such as pregnancy control in autoimmune diseases (Maternal and Fetal Medicine Department), Uveitis (Clinical Institute of Ophthalmology), Central sensitization syndromes, Pulmonary hypertension, Interstitial lung diseases and Pulmonology.

The Unit is well known for its experience in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, antiphospholipid syndrome, systemic sclerosis, Sjögren's syndrome, systemic vasculitis, sarcoidosis and auto-inflammatory diseases.

More than 1,000 new patients with these diseases are treated each year and more than 3,000 are monitored periodically. Pregnant women with these diseases are also monitored, with an annual check-up of more than 80 pregnancies.