Bradycardia - Slow Pulse Rate.

[Wecando]

I’m new here. In 2018 I had a biopsy for Prostate Cancer and was subsequently told I had localised cancer. Phew? Had Radiotherapy in Feb 2019 and am now recovering from the treatment. During this the medics noticed my pulse rate was quite low 40/50’s. I was referred to Cardiology and having had an overnight heart monitor, I am now going to have a heart loop fitted in a couple of weeks. Since 2011 I’ve been checking my BP fairly regularly and when I looked at all those figures, my pulse rate was mostly in the low 50’s then. I have fainted on quite rare occasions in and since my teens - I’m now 70 - but usually down to things like rushing like mad to a footy game, or thumping a thumb with a hammer or the last a week after my biopsy. I never put it down to the pulse rate. Since my cancer treatment I have felt a bit light headed, here and there a bit dozy in the head and slightly breathless but nothing overwhelming. The overnight monitor picked up a lowest pulse rate of 44 per minute. What info will the Loop provide other than the fact that I have a low pulse rate. I have quite recently had a heart scan which showed normal. I presume if something is found wrong, I will need a pacemaker?

[ling]

Hi Wecando.

You might like to check out this Mayo clinic site about loop recorders. It's pretty informative.

mayoclinic.org/tests-proced...

I can't comment on why the doctors want to monitor your heart via a loop recorder. They should have their reasons and if you need to know, you should ask your doctor. Compared to a holter, the loop recorder requires an invasive procedure to wear but the wealth of information it would be able to provide as to how your heart is doing, is huge.

We lived with my mother's sick sinus syndrome for about 5 years till her recent pacemaker implantation. She was monitored via 24 and 48-hour holters. This was deemed sufficient for determining the point at which a pacemaker could be implanted. But it was grossly useless for diagnosing paroxysmal afib, which at one point we suspected she might have.

Best wishes : )