Halter ECG solves heart problems

When a person has any problems with the heart, he seeks help from a cardiologist. The doctor conducts an electrocardiographic study to assess the health of the cardiac muscle.

But the ECG does not reveal all the problems, because it gives a momentary picture. For example, if the patient occasionally has arrhythmia attacks, but during the visit to the doctor the heart will work normally, there will be no deviations on the cardiogram. To identify a pathology that is not visible at the time of recording a cardiogram, the ECG holter is used.

What is Holter?

This is a portable medical device that is attached to the patient's body and records electrocardiograms and blood pressure with electrodes for twenty-four hours. Named ECG Holter in honor of the inventor of the device - scientist-biophysicist Norman Holter. This American researcher developed and first applied the method of daily heart monitoring in 1961. Analyzing the data obtained during the study, the cardiologist will be able to identify the violations. But in order for the monitoring picture to be objective, the patient needs to lead a normal lifestyle within a day: go to work, go for a walk, play sports.

In this case, the doctor will ask the patient to keep a diary in which there will be periods of rest, motor activity, emotional stress, food intake and medications. In the case of pain, it will be necessary to note their nature, duration, time and causes. In some cases, the study can be carried out for two, three, and sometimes seven days.

When is ECG Holter applied?

Indications for the use of the holter are the patient's complaints of pain in the heart of an unknown genesis, dizziness, palpitations, loss of consciousness. A cardiologist can prescribe an ECG holter to detect the presence of dangerous arrhythmias, if the patient had a myocardial infarction, there is hypertrophic cardiomyopathy or a suspicion of coronary heart disease.

Holter is used when it is necessary to evaluate the pacemaker performance or after the antiarrhythmic treatment. When Norman Halter just made his invention, the device weighed 40 kilograms, and the patient wore a transmitter in a backpack on his back. A cardiogram recorded and processed a stationary receiver. The modern device for the ECG holter weighs about 500 grams and is small in size, but, despite this, it can interfere with the patient during sleep. In addition, the holter is an expensive complex electronic device, it should be taken care of, protected from vibrations and shocks, from exposure to high and low temperatures. Holter can not be wetted, so the patient at the time of the study will have to refuse to take a bath and shower.

Holter monitoring of the heart is effective if there are episodes of worsening of the patient's condition within twenty-four hours, otherwise additional research methods should be used.