Cardiac rhythm monitoring : what to expect

Services for cardiac rhythm monitoring, are usually set up by the office. As noted before there are three types of cardiac rhythm monitoring services that we provide.  a brief description of the expectations of each of these types is given below.

 24 or 48 hour Holter monitors

 Holter monitors are completely hands-off cardiac rhythm monitor that records the patient's cardiac rhythm for a short period. These devices are usually fitted in the office immediately after your office visit with  Dr. Rasi.  A medical assistants will give you instructions on how the monitor is fitted,  and after the monitoring period is over, you will return the device back to office. At that time, the device will be shipped to an outside location, where it will be interrogated, and detail reports of the heart rhythm activity during the monitoring period will be sent back to Dr. Rasi.  Unless there was something alarming on the monitor, the results of this test will usually be discussed at the follow-up visit.

 30 day event monitors

 30 day event monitors are somewhat similar to Holter monitors, with the exception that while some of these devices have continuous monitoring, the majority of them are patient triggered. This means that there is a button on the monitor that the patient is asked to press if the patient experiences palpitations or the symptoms that brought them to the office in the first place. When the device is triggered, the monitoring station has the ability to check the rhythm at that time  and make a decision about whether or not a physician should be alerted. Either way, a detailed note of the patient's symptoms and the rhythm at that time is taken into account, and sent to Dr. Rasi for evaluation. Typically, these devices are not fitted in the office, and they are directly mailed to the patient's home from the company that manufactures them. The monitor will come in a box with a self addressed mailing label that can be used to send it back to the company wants to monitoring period is complete.

 Implantable loop recorders

 Implantable loop recorders (ILR)  are specialized devices that can record a patient's cardiac rhythm activity for much longer., Anywhere between three months to up to two years. Unlike the altar monitors an event monitors, these devices are very small, but can record cardiac rhythm activity from within the patient's chest wall. This is why they are implantable. These devices are about the size of a very small USB  flash drive,  and are inserted into the chest wall under a sterile  mini surgical procedure that is performed in the hospital's recovery area. The procedure itself does not require any anesthesia, and only local anesthesia to the affected site is administered. Once this miniature devices implanted, rhythm activity will be monitored by the device and transmitted to a remote monitoring station. Dr. Rasi will then have the ability to monitor the activity of the patient's heart rhythm either remotely, or at the end of the patient's implantation period. Of note, at the end of the implantation. A second mini surgical procedure will be required to retrieve the device.