implantable loop recorder

[Aries17]

Hello,

My cardiologist has advised I have an implantable loop recorder as it has been picked up on a previous holter monitor that my heart randomly went a bit slow in the middle of the day.

He believes it may be Mobitz 2 AV block however as I am in my late 20’s, it has only been picked up on once and my symptoms of lightheadedness are so sporadic, he wants me to have the implantable recorder to try and capture it again. If it is a regular thing then I have been told I may need a pacemaker.

I’m just wondering if anyone can shed any light on the procedure for implanting the device? I know it’s over with very quick and not invasive so I am not hugely concerned, but I wonder if those who have one can tell me whether they can feel the device under the skin and if it bothers them at all? I am very petite so not sure if that would make any difference.

thank you!

[cbaum]

I’ve had a loop recorder for 3 years with no problem. You can feel a lump with your fingers but there’s no other consequences. The battery finally died and the Electrophysiologist said I could leave it in or take it out. I left it in. I also have a Kardia which tells me when I am experiencing atrial fibrillation. I have no symptoms, blood pressure is usually quite normal, and the only “problem” I have now is that my eject fraction is .48 where it should be .55-.65. Eject fraction expresses how much blood is pumped out of the heart. There is nothing can be done about my low eject fraction and the doctors aren’t worried about it. Good Luck! Chris

[Tilly1957]

my husband has one of these. He says he can only feel it when he touches where it is- just a slight bump. But otherwise he doesn’t even know it’s there. Over a period of 3 years, with regular monitoring if what it was recording, it saved his life at the start of this year. He went for the regular check up in Jan and it showed his heart was slowing dangerously low, in his sleep, so he wouldn’t be aware if any effects. They kept him in and sent him home after 5 days with a pacemaker (and covid 🤣) Best thing he had done was having the loop recorder as the heart issue would not have been picked up and the outcome could have been a lot worse!

[Scat319]

I've had mine in over 4 years...battery died during covid and my doctor advised waiting to replace it. You can see it, you can feel it if you touch there, but it's small. It's a great little device and picks up everything. Now that Covid is pretty much gone, my doctor said I could replace it. It was like my little security blanket because my episodes were so infrequent but the monitor picked up everything. Easy install too!

[AussieHeart]

I’m petite too. it’s a simple procedure and yes you will feel it for a couple of weeks but then you won’t unless you touch it. It helped dx my afib so don’t worry and agree as it can be done as a local anaesthetic which I chose. Took a few mins!!

[kayberry]

I have an implanted loop recorder for 3 years because I wanted to make 100% sure that I had afib which was never caught on Holter monitor I wore for a month. Loop recorder was installed (local deadening only), took only a few minutes, 100% non-problematic.. after installation it only took 2 months to confirm an afib episode which lasted 22 hours. I had erroneously thought that the hospital/cardiologist office would quickly notify me if anything was picked up… wrong assumption…. They only read these charts every 3-4 weeks, so about 3 weeks later, they called to tell me about the episode 3 weeks earlier. I have only had 3 events since loop recorder installed and in meantime got Apple Watch which woke me and told me I had afib going on which lasted for 9 hours and told me when it was over… never did hear from monitoring service.. I am completely aware when I have afib. And, right on the dot of 3 years, the battery died, so I will not be getting another … not sure if will get removed. I would now be happy with only the Iwatch. if more details or other issues need clarification, the recorder would give more details if you request printout of electrophysiologist’s report (once every 3 months) Hope this answer offers some guidance.

[Aries17]

kayberry AussieHeart Scat319 Hidden Tilly1957 cbaum - thank you all for your helpful replies.

I was curious as to know how often the results are reviewed and if the recorded information is only saved if it recognises an abnormality or not. In my letter it says some devices require a handheld activator which can be placed over the device whilst you are symptomatic. Is that the case for any of you?

[AussieHeart in reply to Aries17]

Mine too is Medtronic (m.youtube.com/watch?v=-SViP...(Not working as expected?) and comes with added hand-held device if away from home and experience afib/tachycardia. I had follow-up appointment in first three months, then six monthly and now yearly post ablation. Each time they explain my readings. Been great and provides peace of mind.

[Tilly1957 in reply to Aries17]

don’t know !

[kayberry]

my loop recorder was made by Medtronic, Minneapolis, MN, USA (it has a monitor which goes beside your bed (within 6 feet) which reads the day’s recordings the loop made once a day every night at whatever time is chosen…. If you think you feel something which is of concern, there is a handheld device that you can activate by holding it over your chest. This creates a que note for the people reading the printout to look closely. I did this but still took them 3 weeks to contact me at normal reading time, so evidently only read it at specified time, even if you use handheld device to create a que. When I requested to get copies of all the readings every 3 months, the afib showed up at correct time/date. Lots of words I didn’t understand after electrophysiologist translated. Probably also describes in printout exactly what was caught, I.e tachycardia, PVC’s, PAC’s. Hope this info is helpful .

[Eldot]

I had mine fitted 5 weeks ago. My understanding is that it is programmed to watch the heart continuously to see if it exceeds certain parameters. Mine is if it exceeds 120bpm or if it misses more than 3 beats. Nothing found yet. If it detects either parameter is exceeded, it saves the current ecg in one of its internal stores. Every night it tells the bedside box if it detected anything during the day and transmits it if it did. The bedside box then phones a Medtronic server with its builtin phone SIM to upload the recording. Later your hospital can log in to the Medtronic portal to see your trace. I also have a dongle to hold on my chest if I want to make a recording because I felt something or to test that it's working.

Sadly I can't see any of its recordings so I have bought a Kardia 6L.

I can occasionally feel mine if I lie awkwardly but otherwise no problem.

[cbaum]

Sorry to be late responding. I can just affirm what the others have said. I am completely asymptomatic so I put the “dongle” on my chest when I guessed something might be happening, but don’t recall that my doctors said anything. Once a nurse called me and said my heart rate at 2 am the night before was 219. Sounds extremely high but I had not noticed anything. She told me to increase my dosage of metoprolol to 100 gms daily from 25 gms daily. That made me feel listless and tired so I cut back to 25 again on my own. I guess one benefit of my loop recorder was that it exposed me to the uncommunicative nature of my cardio practice so I switched to another. When my new Electrophysiologist told me the loop recorder had gone dead he said there was no reason to replace it. I started feeling bad with the 25 mg dose of of metoprolol, I cut back to 12.5 mg once daily, again on my own volition. I told the cardiologist that I had reduced dosage at the next visit and that I felt much better and he approved of what I had done. It might be relevant to note that my sleep apnea has decreased and I now have average incidents per hour of less than one. I’ve been told that getting my sleep apnea reduced will help my heart rhythm and it seems to be true. I am a 77 year old male in Colorado, altitude 5280, epileptic with sleep apnea (I think), use a CPAP machine (continuous positive airway pressure). I never have symptoms of anything but my family tells me my epileptic seizures have been scary.