A Holter monitor continuously records a patient's EKG for 24 hours. Because the recording covers the entire 24 hours, Holter monitoring is much more likely to detect an abnormal heart rhythm when compared to the EKG which lasts less than a minute. Since it can be worn during the patient's regular daily activities, it helps Dr. Matzer correlate symptoms such as dizziness, palpitations (a sensation of fast or irregular heart rhythm), fatigue, shortness of breath or black outs to any abnormal heart rhythm.

Some reasons for Dr. Matzer  to order a Holter monitor recording include, but are not limited to, the following:

• to evaluate chest pain not reproduced with exercise testing
• to evaluate other signs and symptoms which may be heart-related, such as fatigue, shortness of breath, dizziness, or fainting
• to identify irregular heartbeats or palpitations
• to assess risk for future heart-related events in certain conditions, such as idiopathic hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (enlarged heart due to unknown reasons), post-heart attack with dysfunction of the left side of the heart, or Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome (a condition in which an additional electrical pathway carries an impulse from the atria to the ventricles, causing rhythm problems)
• to assess the function of an implanted pacemaker
• to determine the effectiveness of therapy for complex arrhythmias

What to expect?

Dr. Matzer’s Holter monitoring system utilizes the latest, state-of-the-art technologies and is quite small, is battery-powered, and digitally records your EKG. The Holter monitor has a strap that you wear over your shoulder or around your waist. The monitor also has wires called leads. The leads attach to metal disks called electrodes, which are placed on the chest. The electrodes stick to the skin with a gel.These electrodes are very sensitive, and they can pick up the electrical impulses of the heart which are recorded by the Holter monitor

Holter monitoring is a painless test. You will need to go Dr. Matzer’s office to be fitted for the monitor. Once you are fitted with the Holter monitor, you cannot get it wet in the shower or bathtub. While you are wearing the monitor, you may be asked note when you have symptoms or the activites that you are doing. This will help the Dr. Matzer correlate the EKG finding on the Holter to your symptoms or to your activities. Otherwise, you can do your typical activities, except those that might get the Holter monitor wet.

Results

Dr. Matzer personally analyzes and reviews the results from the Holter monitor. She will then meet with you to discuss the results.