Your doctor has recommended that you receive a test called a Holter Monitor.
While an EKG, done in your physicians office generally records
20-60 heartbeats, the Holter Monitor records closer to 100,000 heartbeats over 24 hours.
A Holter Monitor is a 24-hour
recording of the electrical activity of the heart. The late Norman J. Holter, a native of
Helena, Montana, developed the procedure. Dr. Holter's original monitor was a 75-pound
backpack that could only record a single lead of the heart’s activity. Modern
state-of-the-art, Holter Monitors are cassette tape or digital recorders that record three
electrical leads of the heart. This monitor enables your physician to see how your heart
reacts to daily activities such as:
walking
driving
eating
sleeping
|
 |
The Holter
Monitor is a simple device to apply to a patient.
Five to seven ECG electrodes will be
attached to the skin to record the electrical activity of the heart.
 |
The Holter
Monitor will be connected to the electrodes by thin wires.
With the use of a belt or shoulder
harness, the Holter Monitor can be worn comfortably by the patient. |
Patients are encouraged to
perform their daily activities while wearing the device with the exception of bathing,
showering, swimming or any activity that would get the monitor wet. If the Holter Monitor
gets wet, the electrical circuitry will be damaged.
Before you leave the physician’s office, you
will be provided with a Holter diary.
You will record your normal activities as
well as any symptoms and the times that these events occurred.
Proper entries in the diary are very
important for the accurate interpretation of your Holter Monitor. For example, a heartbeat
of 160 beats per minute may be normal for someone who is exercising but would be abnormal
for someone who is reading a book.
| HOLTER
MONITOR DIARY |
| TIME |
ACTIVITY |
SYMPTOMS |
| 9:15 am |
walking 2 miles |
chest pain |
| 1:20 pm |
having lunch |
dizzy spell |
| 3:50 pm |
watching TV |
heart fluttering |
The diary allows the proper correlation
between the findings on the Holter tape and potential heart rhythm disturbances.
You should carry the diary with you at
all times while wearing the Holter Monitor and record any activities or symptoms as well
as what time they occurred.
The time these activities or symptoms
occurred should be recorded off of the clock on the Holter Monitor itself (not your wrist
watch or wall clock since only the time on the Holter Monitor correlates to the time on
the cassette tape).
When Wearing A Holter Monitor:
- Do not use your electric blanket.
- Stay away from magnets, metal
- detectors, and high voltage areas such as power
lines.
- Do not get the monitor wet.
The Analyzed Holter Report
Includes:
Hourly summaries of the minimum, maximum
and average heart beats for the 24-hour period.
Abnormal slowing of the heart beat (called
Bradycardia) and abnormal fast heartbeats, (called Tachycardia).
Analysis of a particular portion of the
EKG signal which may indicate a problem with poor blood flow to the heart muscle, (called
ischemia).
Measurement of any pauses in the
heartbeat.
Evaluation of pacemaker functioning, (if
one is present).
Evaluation of the effectiveness of certain
cardiac medications.
We hope this brief introduction to
Holter Monitoring has provided you with a better understanding of this simple, yet
valuable test. The Holter Monitor continues to provide reliable and important information
in the detection of the disorders of the heart. It has undergone many refinements with age
and with the development of powerful computers, its accuracy has improved immensely. It
remains one of the most commonly utilized tests in the field of cardiology.
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