Holter Monitor
For this test, some stick-ons
(electrodes) are attached to the chest. These
electrodes are connected to a box that records every
single heart beat. This monitor is typically worn
for 24 hours. You will be given a paper to write any
symptoms that you may feel during the monitoring
period. You should diligently give details of the
symptoms along with the time that you feel those.
You return this machine after a pre-determined
period of monitoring. The monitor is then decoded to
get beat to beat details of your heart.
It is helpful in following
situations:
- If you have palpitations,
the monitor can tell you whether the feeling of
palpitations is due to heart rhythm problem.
- If you have symptoms
during the monitoring period at a certain time,
your doctor can see what your heart rhythm was
like at the time of symptoms.
- It can tell you whether
your heart was beating too fast or too slow.
- If you have premature
beats (sometimes called missing beats), it will
tell your doctor whether they are coming from
lower or upper chamber of the heart.
Limitations:
This test mainly evaluates the
rhythm of your heart. It does not tell anything
about blockages in the heart arteries, or strength
of the heart muscles.
This monitoring is done over
24-48 hours. So if you feel the symptoms
infrequently (once in a few months, for example),
this test is less likely to be useful.
There is another kind of
monitor that is worn for much longer
(typically 30 days). It is called event monitor.
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