Ambulatory Monitoring
Specialist Cardiology offers three different forms of ambulatory monitoring.
24-Hour Blood Pressure Monitor
Ambulatory 24-hour blood pressure monitoring may become an indispensable tool in the diagnosis and treatment of hypertension if its precise role is determined. The major advantage of monitoring over single clinic pressures is its ability to detect 'white coat' and labile hypertension. This tool has the ability to detect subjects with 'white coat' hypertension, who probably do not need treatment, should lead to a significant reduction in drug costs.
Holter Monitor
A Holter monitor is a machine that continuously records the heart's rhythms. The monitor is worn for 24 to 48 hours during normal activity.
Electrodes (small conducting patches) are stuck onto your chest. These are attached by wires to a small recording monitor. You carry the Holter monitor in a pocket or pouch worn around your neck or waist. The monitor runs on batteries. While you wear the monitor, it records your heart's electrical activity.
Keep a diary of what activities you do while wearing the monitor, and how you feel.
After 24 - 48 hours, you will return the monitor to your doctor's office.
The doctor will look at the records and see if there have been any abnormal heart rhythms.
It is very important that you accurately record your symptoms and activities so the doctor can match them with your Holter monitor findings.
7-Day Event Monitor
V-Patch is unobtrusive to wear and allows a patient to conduct his or her normal daily activities anywhere in the world while being monitored continuously in real time. Events are automatically detected and recorded, producing a diagnostic quality 3-lead ECG, which is immediately available on the web based platform. The design of the patch has not only made it easier to wear, ensuring greater compliance, it has significantly reduced the incidence of artifact. Monitoring periods are indefinite, but the system has been designed to be worn for up to seven days without changing the patch or recharging the batteries. It has a memory feature so that no recorded event is lost. V-patch is more likely to capture an event. Standard monitoring processes such as Holter are limited by time restrictions and patient compliance, missing events that occur beyond their screening period.