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Dr. Raúl F. Abella

Director of Barcelona International Heart Centre, Dexeus University Hospital


Clinical area

Heart Department

Dr. Raúl Felipe Abellá is a consultant in paediatric cardiovascular surgery. His centre has international professionals who treat all types of congenital heart diseases; with over 25 years’ experience and over 3000 heart operations, including the most complicated procedures, the centre has an Aristotle Basic Complexity Score of 7.3, a post-operative survival rate of 98.2%, and a hospital rate of 97%, which all comply with the international standards of centres of excellence at world level.


Professional experience

  • Director of Barcelona International Heart Centre (CICB), Dexeus University Hospital (present).

  • Head of Paediatric Cardiovascular Surgery at Vall d’Hebron University Hospital (2010-present).

  • Collaboration on development aid programmes for paediatric cardiovascular surgery in developing countries.

    • 2002-2009: Cardiovascular surgery at IRCCS San Donato Polyclinic in Milan, ITALY.

    • 1995-2001: Cardiovascular surgery at Hesperia Hospital, Modena, ITALY.

    • 1991-1995: Cardiovascular surgery at Bambino Gesù Paediatric Hospital, Rome, ITALY.

Membership in scientific societies

  • Founding Member of the World Society for Paediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery.

  • Member of the European Association of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery.

Research and teaching

  • Speaker at over 100 national and international conferences.

  • 200 articles and publications.

    • Member of the Cardiac Paediatric Surgery Programme, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.

    • Medical School Programme, University of Girona, Girona, Spain.

  • Over 56 humanitarian missions in 9 countries as a cardiovascular surgeon.

    • Operated on over 525 children with or without extracorporeal circulation.

    • Director of 3 cardiovascular surgery development programmes for the Cuban Ministry of Health.

Stay in foreign centers

  • Cardiovascular surgery specialist with internships in Italy, France, Switzerland and the United States.

  • IRCCS San Donato Polyclinic in Milan, Italy.

  • Aldo Castaneda Institute, Genolier, Switzerland.

  • Bambini Gesù Hospital, Rome, Italy.

Languages for clinical practice

  • Spanish

  • English

  • Italian

Dr. Raúl F. Abella
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