What is the daily monitoring of the ECG by Holter?

Daily monitoring of the ECG is a method of instrumental diagnostics, in which the recording of the patient's electrocardiogram is fixed for 24 hours a day. ECG, obtained during the examination, can not reliably characterize the work of the heart in all states of physical activity of the organism. An ordinary cardiogram evaluates the functional capabilities of the heart only at rest, for 5-10 seconds, which means it can not show dangerous and serious disorders of cardiac activity. An improved diagnostic method was proposed by American biophysicist Norman Holter and therefore he received the name - daily monitoring of the ECG by Holter. Continuous diagnosis is used not only to detect ischemic changes in the heart and disturbances in its rhythm, it is also used in antianginal and antiarrhythmic therapy.

Recording is performed using a special device that connects to the patient and is fixed with a strap over your shoulder or belt. Contact with the patient's body is carried out by attaching disposable adhesive electrodes. While daily monitoring of the ECG is carried out, the patient leads a habitual way of life, carrying out all the physical loads necessary for accurate diagnosis. After a predetermined period of time, the cardiologist thoroughly studies the readings taken and makes a decoding of the cardiogram.

When drafting a medical report, not only the indications of the device are taken into account, but also the changes in the patient's condition, which he records in the diary, indicating the time interval. The patient should take the responsibility to record his testimony with all responsibility, taking into account the slightest changes in health during exercise, medication, sleep and activity. Daily monitoring of the ECG allows you to diagnose painful and painless attacks of ischemia and make up a full range of heart rate abnormalities.

ECG-recorders are divided into several types. Depending on the storage of the electrocardiogram record, they are equipped with electronic memory and magnetic tape. And, depending on the amount of memory, they happen with the fixation of fragments and with continuous recording. For the analysis of the received indications a special computer program is used, which allows to decipher the received record. The latest, advanced ECG monitoring recorders perform the primary ECG analysis themselves, which greatly accelerates the process of its final decoding on the computer. Any holter record should be studied in detail and corrected by the doctor, because the generally accepted standard of decoding does not exist.

Any revealed pathology should be accompanied by a printout of the ECG for the indicated period of diagnosis. Daily ECG monitoring should reflect the following information:

• Heart rate, its frequency;
• Heart rhythm disturbances in the period of ventricular and supraventricular extrasystoles;
• Rhythmic pauses;
• Changes in PQ and QT intervals in case of their detection, as well as analysis of changes in the QRS complex due to abnormalities of intraventricular conduction;
• Changes in the final segment of the ST of the ventricular complex, as well as their relationship to the patient's records.

In modern cardiac diagnostics Holter monitoring is the most reliable way to detect cardiac disorders. This method has no contraindications and is easy to use.