Marta Yanes Sánchez
CARDIORENAL UNIT
Controller: Dr. Laura Espinosa
The Cardio-Renal Unit is a highly specialized area dedicated to the comprehensive and coordinated management of patients with concomitant heart and kidney disease. Understanding the close interdependence between these two organs, our unit works collaboratively to optimize the diagnosis and treatment of cardiorenal syndromes, ensuring personalized care that improves the prognosis and quality of life of our patients.
The heart and kidneys function as an integrated system; failure of one often compromises the function of the other. The Cardio-Renal Unit was created to break down traditional healthcare silos, allowing patients to be seen not in isolation by different specialists, but by a cohesive team that understands this pathological duality.
Within the Heart Failure team, this unit focuses on the management of complex patients where the treatment of cardiac function is limited by renal impairment, or vice versa, always seeking the most precise hemodynamic and metabolic balance.
We conduct a thorough evaluation of each case using advanced clinical protocols and cutting-edge technology:
• Comprehensive assessment of congestion: Use of specific biomarkers and advanced imaging techniques (renal and systemic Doppler echocardiography) to objectively quantify fluid overload.
• Non-invasive hemodynamic monitoring: To precisely adjust drug treatment.
• Optimization of medical treatment: Implementation of latest generation drugs (such as iSGLT2 and new mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists) with close monitoring of renal function and electrolyte balance.
• Early detection of acute kidney damage: In patients with cardiac decompensation to prevent permanent kidney damage.
Our unit is distinguished by offering advanced therapeutic solutions in challenging management scenarios.
1. Outpatient decongestion protocols: Controlled intensive diuretic strategies to avoid recurrent hospital admissions.
2. Advanced management of anemia and mineral metabolism: Specific to the patient with mixed pathology.
3. Coordinated renal replacement therapies: In cases of advanced renal failure, we coordinate closely with the dialysis team to adapt the rhythms and techniques to the patient's cardiovascular status.
4. Use of new molecules: Application of the most recent clinical guidelines for the treatment of Heart Failure with proven renal protection.