On 28 and 29 November 2025, leading cardiovascular specialists, researchers and innovators from around the world gathered at Campus Charité Mitte in Berlin for the first edition of Update on Sudden Cardiac Death 2025, a unique scientific conference dedicated to advancing knowledge and improving prevention strategies for one of medicine’s most urgent and complex challenges.
The initiative was organized within the framework of the EU-funded PROFID project, coordinated by Prof. Gerhard Hindricks, Prof. Nikolaos Dagres, International Chief Investigators of the PROFID EHRA trial, at the Deutsches Herzzentrum der Charité, together with Prof. Helmut Pürerfellner, president of the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA). For years, they had explored the concept of a high-impact event devoted entirely to Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD), one of the greatest challenges in medicine and one of the leading causes of death responsible for roughly 20% of all deaths in Europe. With cutting-edge research emerging through PROFID and growing global interest in new predictive and preventive strategies, the time had come to bring this vision to life.
The conference brought together world-renowned experts from Europe and beyond, including several top-tier speakers from the United States and Canada. It was jointly hosted by Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Deutsches Herzzentrum der Charité, the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and its subspecialty association EHRA.
The two-day programme featured panel discussions and scientific sessions on the latest advances in risk stratification, clinical trials, imaging, genetics, and interventional therapies.
The opening day began with a warm welcome from Prof. Hindricks, Prof. Dagres, and Prof. Pürerfellner, followed by a highly anticipated session on risk stratification after myocardial infarction and primary prevention ICD trials. The afternoon sessions focused on novel strategies for SCD prediction in structural heart disease, featuring advances in Artificial Intelligence, cardiac MRI and genetics.
The second day focused on innovations in ventricular tachycardia (VT) ablation and cutting-edge interventional approaches, with expert presentations from leading electrophysiologists. The programme further explored ventricular fibrillation without structural abnormalities, before closing with final reflections and future perspectives.
Update on Sudden Cardiac Death 2025 offered a unique opportunity not only to share the latest science insights, but also to strengthen collaborations across the scientific community. With lively discussions, interactive sessions and contributions from key opinion leaders, the conference marked a major milestone in the collective effort to reduce the global burden of SCD.
Further information about Update on Sudden Cardiac Death including presentations of the speakers can be found on the website https://profid-project.eu/update-scd-2025/.
