Treatment at Hospital Clínic

Patients with Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) are treated at the Neonatology Department at the Clinical Institute of Gynaecology, Obstetrics and Neonatology (ICGON), which has professionals with expertise in diagnosing and treating FASD, both in terms of care and research.

The Local Government of Catalonia plans to recognise units with expertise in FASD, among them, Hospital Clínic, including diagnosis, treatment and follow-up. Diagnosis includes both classical clinical diagnosis by paediatricians and psychologists, as well as the use of an innovative diagnostic app: VisualTEAF . The app was developed as part of the start-up Psicoterapia VR, of which Hospital Clínic is a partner.

Diagnosis is based on gathering clinical data, an expert paediatric assessment of the shape and size of the facial features and a standardised neurocognitive and behavioural psychological assessment in accordance with international criteria and protocols.

Hospital Clínic is the only hospital that includes an expert FASD group (both clinical and research). It has also developed an innovative diagnostic app, and participates in the design and implementation of a specific treatment tool based on virtual reality.

Furthermore, the group actively collaborates in clinical and research projects alongside associations for relatives of patients with FASD (VisualTEAF). It has also collaborated with the Local Government of Catalonia, along with other hospitals in Barcelona, in the only study on the prevalence of FASD in children adopted from Eastern European countries.