24hr echocardiogram holter.. does it record all events?

[Manhattan1]

hi currently wearing a 24hr holter.. was advised to press te green button if i experience any type of ‘event’ eg.. palpitations.. ectopic..or chest pain.. does this mean the technician who will go through the tape will only look for events that come up when clicking the button or is the whole 24hr recording examined which will pick up anything the wearer has missed?.. thanks

[Brandibell]

Hi, It is mainly events. I wore mine for 3days/72hours and only one event was mentioned in the follow up.Even though I clicked the Green button on numerous occasions.

[Manhattan1 in reply to Brandibell]

thanks 👍

[Hidden]

My understanding is the holter is recording for the duration, but pressing the button flags it for analysis once the monitoring has stopped and is being processed. They don’t review every second of the tape, but along with checking average heart rate and other data like number of ectopics generates by the software, they scroll through and look for anything unusual or out of the ordinary in addition to specifically checking the user flagged events. If you have an arrhythmia that doesn’t (always) cause symptoms, having a device that only records when the patient triggers it would be a waste of everyone’s time and resources.

[Manhattan1 in reply to Hidden]

many thanks for that Charlie.. that’s what was was worrying me., if i missed something that wasn’t patently obvious at the time.. the nurse who fitted the device particularly mentioned arrhythmia

[Hidden in reply to Manhattan1]

The last time I had a holter a few years back, I was woken from a nap by really bounding, forceful palpitations, which was one of the reasons they wanted to do one. It was the only time I pressed the event button for the 3 days, and there was nothing of note on the tape at the time flagged (leading to the conclusion my palpitations were benign), but it picked up loads of ectopics that I wasn’t consciously aware of on the other days. The main thing is that if starts making noises at you, get it checked: I once had a supposed month holter that started beeping at me after 2 days - cardiac team said not to worry, but it later turned out it hadn’t recorded from the beeping onwards 🤦‍♂️ Other than that, trust that if your heart is doing anything weird and wonderful, it will be on the tape even if you don’t feel it 👍

[Manhattan1 in reply to Hidden]

mind at rest now about missing anything.. HR also drops to low 40’s overnight.. nurse said that will also be checked out

[Manhattan1 in reply to Hidden]

stupid question.. i also have to log what time i go to bed and awake in the morning.. but i usually get up twice during the night to visit the bathroom.. do i need to log that as waking up? lol

[Hidden in reply to Manhattan1]

Jot it down: if you don’t tell them you got up and your heart rate jumps, they might diagnose you with tachycardia when you were actually just having a pee 👀😂 I don’t know what your monitoring form looks like, but if there’s a space for notes just pop it in there as a bathroom visit with when you got up and when you got back in bed (roughly). It doesn’t need to be exact, they just need a guide so they can correlate any changes on the tape to what - if anything - you were doing when they occurred. If you’re supposed to be sleeping, an unusually high hr is going to get flagged.

[Manhattan1 in reply to Hidden]

thanks lol

[AnnD_]

I had a 72 hour one last year and kept forgetting to press the button or by the time I did find it and press the actual moment had gone.

When I had a repeat 48 hr one I asked the technician if it matters that you don’t get every one and was told no, they go through the whole tape anyway, it just highlights when you feel something is happening. They can then check to see if your symptoms coincide with anything actually happening.

Don't forget it continues to record when you are asleep and the report will show anything unusual during that time as well.

[Manhattan1 in reply to AnnD_]

actually kept it onto tje last minute this morning.. a long walk along corridor to Cardiology.. had a chest pain while walking

[jon22]

Hi, Is the device uncomfortable to wear and does it make any noise? Are there pads stuck all over your chest? Thanks.

[Manhattan1 in reply to jon22]

no noise.. 3 sticky pads .. clipped the device onto my leggings.. and pj’s at night.. not uncomfortable.. just a wee bit akward as you have to tuck the wires in

[Qualipop]

Mine was on a tape hung round my neck with just one sticky pad on my chest. The weight of it annoyed me a bit so I pulled the hanging tape back off my neck a bit and fastened it with micropore just so it didn't pull on my neck. and as usual I was allergic to the glue so I came up in blisters under it. Most people wouldn't. It made no noise at all.