Dutch cardiologists sporting event to the ESC Congress 2011 in Paris 

The Dutch Society of Cardiology organised for the 4th time in a row, a successful sporting event around the annual ESC congress. This year, on 25 August, 3 cardiology teams started underneath the Dom tower in Utrecht for a 48 hour continuous race running to the Eiffel tower in Paris. Their goal was to raise awareness and money for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest research.  Within 48 hours the Erasmus Medical Centre team from Rotterdam finished first, closely followed by the teams from Leiden University Medical Centre and University Medical Centre Utrecht.

In 2 days the 14 runners from each team covered in relay a distance of 588km, meaning an average running speed of more than 12km/hour, and covering the distance of a marathon within 3,5 hours.  And this all despite setbacks like thunderstorms, sleep deprivation and GPS failure. They also raised more than 40,000 euros for OHCA research performed at the University Medical Centre Utrecht. This research started in 2010 to enhance the registration of OHCA within the region and to ultimately improve survival.

The survival of OHCA patients is still very low and following the ESC guidelines, it is important to acquire exhaustive data on the prevalence and epidemiology of sudden death in the nearby area. Therefore the UTrecht study group for OPtimal registry of cardIAc arrest was founded in cooperation with the regional ambulance service Utrecht. Both institutions will combine their digital data and knowledge for the next years. The first results of the so-called UTOPIA studies are expected from 2013.

For 2012 the Dutch Society of Cardiology is planning another sporting event towards the ESC congress in Munich. Possibly it becomes a combination of cycling and running (biathlon) or even a combination with swimming (triathlon). Foreign cardiology teams who are interested in joining this upcoming sporting event can contact the Dutch Society of Cardiology through their website: http://www.nvvc.nl/english. Or check for more information and photos of this year’s race: http://www.nvvc.nl/dom-eiffel. 
 
Joris van der Heijden, cardiology-trainee University Medical Centre Utrecht on behalf of Mrs Monique Peters, director of the Netherlands Society of Cardiology both initiators of the Dom-Eiffel-relay-run 2011