Holter monitoring Overview
Holter monitoring is usually used to diagnose heart rhythm disturbances, specifically to find the cause of palpitations or dizziness.
You wear a small recording device, called a Holter monitor, which is connected to small metal disks (called electrodes) that are placed on your chest to get a reading of your heart rate and rhythm over a 24-hour period or longer. Your heart’s rhythm is transmitted and recorded on a tape, then played back into a computer so it can be analyzed to find out what is causing your arrhythmia. Some monitors let you push a record button to capture a rhythm as soon as you feel any symptoms.
How you prepare
A Holter monitor is placed at a care provider’s office during a scheduled appointment. Unless your health care provider tells you otherwise, plan to bathe before this appointment. Most monitors can’t be removed and must be kept dry once monitoring begins.
A care provider will place sensors (electrodes) on your chest. These electrodes detect the heartbeat. They’re about the size of a silver dollar. If you have hair on your chest, some of it may be shaved to make sure the electrodes stick.
Wires attached to the electrodes connect to the Holter monitor recording device. The device is about the size of a deck of cards.
Once your Holter monitor is fitted and you’ve received instructions on how to wear it, you can leave your provider’s office and return to everyday activities.
Why might I need a Holter monitor?
Some reasons for your healthcare provider to request a Holter monitor recording or event monitor recording include:
To evaluate chest pain that can’t be reproduced with exercise testing
To evaluate other signs and symptoms that may be heart-related, such as tiredness, shortness of breath, dizziness, or fainting
To assess risk for future heart-related events in certain conditions, such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (thickened heart walls), after a heart attack that caused weakness of the left side of the heart, or Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome (where an abnormal electrical conduction pathway exists within the heart)