Dr. Laura Batlle

Dr. Laura Batlle is the consultant neurologist at Hospital Nostra Senyora de Meritxell, Andorra's national hospital, where she has served for over 18 years as the primary neurological specialist for the Principality. Managing the full spectrum of neurological conditions in a small sovereign state with a population of approximately 77,000 residents — supplemented by a significant tourist and seasonal worker population — requires a neurologist of exceptional breadth and adaptability. Dr. Batlle fulfils this role with distinction, providing expert care in stroke medicine, epilepsy, headache disorders, multiple sclerosis, and neurodegenerative diseases.

Dr. Batlle completed her medical studies at the Universitat de Lleida in Catalonia, Spain — geographically close to Andorra and culturally aligned through the shared Catalan language — before undertaking her neurology residency at the Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, one of Catalonia's leading teaching hospitals. She subsequently completed a subspecialty fellowship in stroke and cerebrovascular disease at the Hospital de la Vall d'Hebron in Barcelona, where she gained advanced training in acute thrombolysis, thrombectomy coordination, and secondary stroke prevention.

At the Meritxell hospital, Dr. Batlle leads a comprehensive outpatient neurology clinic and manages the hospital's acute stroke pathway, including intravenous thrombolysis for eligible ischaemic stroke patients and coordination with the neurovascular intervention centre at Hospital de la Vall d'Hebron or CHU de Toulouse for thrombectomy referrals. Given Andorra's geographic position — approximately two hours from both Barcelona and Toulouse — she has developed efficient cross-border transfer protocols that have reduced door-to-treatment times for stroke patients requiring thrombectomy.

For multiple sclerosis, Dr. Batlle manages the complete pathway from diagnosis to disease-modifying therapy selection and long-term monitoring, collaborating with the MS units at Hospital de la Vall d'Hebron and Hospital Clínic Barcelona for complex cases. She also has a strong interest in headache medicine, having developed a botulinum toxin clinic for chronic migraine at the Meritxell hospital.

Dr. Batlle earned her medical degree from the Universitat de Lleida, Faculty of Medicine — one of Catalonia's universities closely aligned with Andorra through geographic and cultural Catalan-language ties. She completed her neurology specialty residency at the Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, receiving comprehensive training in clinical neurology, neuroimaging, acute neurological emergencies, and neuromuscular diseases. She subsequently completed a subspecialty fellowship in stroke and cerebrovascular disease at the Hospital Universitari de Vall d'Hebron in Barcelona, working within the comprehensive stroke centre and gaining expertise in acute thrombolysis, telestroke coordination, secondary stroke prevention, and patent foramen ovale (PFO) management in cryptogenic stroke. She holds board certification in neurology from the Sociedad Española de Neurología (SEN) and is a member of the Societat Catalana de Neurologia (SCN) and the European Academy of Neurology (EAN). She has completed advanced training in multiple sclerosis through the ECTRIMS educational programme and in clinical EEG through the ILAE (International League Against Epilepsy) certification pathway.

Dr. Batlle's neurological practice at the Meritxell hospital covers both acute inpatient neurology and comprehensive outpatient subspecialty care. In stroke medicine, she manages the acute stroke pathway for the Andorran hospital, overseeing the assessment and administration of intravenous thrombolysis (alteplase) for eligible ischaemic stroke patients within the therapeutic time window, and coordinating emergency transfer to thrombectomy-capable centres in Barcelona or Toulouse for large vessel occlusion strokes. Post-acutely, she manages secondary stroke prevention through anticoagulation, antiplatelet therapy, and vascular risk factor optimisation.

For epilepsy, she provides comprehensive assessment using EEG (routine and sleep-deprived), brain MRI interpretation, and anti-epileptic drug prescribing and optimisation. She manages patients from first seizure evaluation through to long-standing drug-resistant epilepsy, coordinating referral to epilepsy surgery programmes in Barcelona for appropriate candidates. She has experience with the full range of modern anti-epileptic drugs including newer agents.

In multiple sclerosis, she manages both relapsing and progressive disease subtypes, selecting from platform, moderate-efficacy, and high-efficacy disease-modifying therapies, and monitoring for treatment safety. In headache medicine, she provides botulinum toxin injection therapy for chronic migraine prevention and manages CGRP-pathway antagonists for refractory cases. She also evaluates dementia and provides Parkinson's disease management within her general neurology outpatient service.

Dr. Batlle has published over 30 peer-reviewed articles in journals including Stroke, the European Journal of Neurology, and Multiple Sclerosis Journal. Her research focuses on stroke epidemiology and acute treatment outcomes in Andorra's small-country clinical setting, MS management in a principality population dependent on cross-border specialist collaboration, and headache medicine in a Pyrenean population characterised by altitude residence and demanding physical occupations. She has collaborated with the Societat Catalana de Neurologia (SCN) on Catalan-region stroke registry data, contributing Andorran patient outcomes to analyses of thrombolysis and thrombectomy rates in the Pyrenean catchment area. Her MS research includes analysis of time to diagnosis and treatment initiation in Andorran patients, highlighting the impact of small-country healthcare system constraints on MS care pathways. She received the SCN Young Researcher Award early in her career for her stroke outcomes research and has presented at EAN annual meetings.

Dr. Batlle manages neurological emergencies and elective consultations for both Andorra's residents and its significant international population of tourists, seasonal workers, and expatriate residents. She conducts consultations in Catalan, Spanish, French, and English — the four languages that cover the vast majority of Andorra's diverse population. For acute neurological emergencies including stroke, the Meritxell hospital provides 24-hour emergency assessment, with rapid transfer protocols to Spanish or French specialist centres when required. For elective neurology consultations — including second opinions on MS diagnosis, epilepsy management, or headache treatment — appointments can be made in advance at the outpatient neurology clinic. Andorra has bilateral health agreements with Spain and France, and international visitors with travel insurance can access neurology services through the hospital's international billing services. Non-European patients are accommodated as private patients.

Dr. Batlle received the Societat Andorrana de Medicina (SAM) Clinical Excellence Award for her leadership of neurological services at the Meritxell hospital and her development of Andorra's acute stroke treatment pathway, significantly reducing door-to-treatment times for stroke patients. The Societat Catalana de Neurologia (SCN) awarded her the SCN Young Researcher Award for her early contributions to stroke outcomes research in the Pyrenean region. She is a member of the European Academy of Neurology (EAN) and participates in EAN educational activities on stroke and MS management. She has been invited to speak at the SCN annual scientific meeting on neurological care coordination in small healthcare systems, contributing to a growing body of knowledge on delivering specialist neurology in microstate and small-country settings.