1 minute read
Other Cardiac Event Recording Devices
Figure 3 shows a Holter monitor as it is placed:
Figure 3
Advertisement
The process of reading the ECG recording would be time consuming for the physician as it records about 24-48 hours of material. For this reason, it is done using computer software. The automated results will give a summary of the heartbeat, including the heartbeat interval measure and the heartbeat morphology, the variability in heart rate, patient’s diary comments, and an overview of the rhythm. In general, it won’t record the patient’s activity level or ischemia unless an extremely modern-day device is utilized.
Holter monitoring is completely painless and non-invasive. It can easily be worn for the 1-2 days necessary, record any event on the patient record, and match it to any cardiac rhythm finding. Patients are asked to participate in all normal activities, but should not bathe or shower with the monitor. The only thing the patient needs to do is make sure the electrodes are firmly attached and change the batteries as needed.
If the patient has symptoms that do not occur every day, the Holter monitor might not be sufficient. For this reason, an event monitor might be worn. It is similar to a Holter monitor but only records the rhythm for a brief period of time when it detects an abnormality in the electrical activity of the heart. The rhythm strip can be sent wirelessly to the provider, who can assess the risk of the arrhythmia detected.
An event monitor or “cardiac event monitor” will detect cardiac rhythm disturbances when the patient is having symptoms. Event monitors are similar to Holter monitors but it doesn’t record in a continuous way. It only starts to record when the patient is having symptoms. The device can also be worn for longer than a month.
There are two event recording devices: symptom event monitors (which record the rhythm when the patient has symptoms) and the memory loop monitor (which records information from a few minutes before the activation and ends after the symptoms resolve). Each device records the ECG reading for a few minutes at a time.
