Why is a Holter Monitor test done?
Your General Practitioner may request this test if you suffer palpitations (where your heart beats excessively or abnormally), to determine if your heart goes “too fast” or “too slow”, to investigate dizziness, light-headedness or blackouts, to test the effects of some cardiac medications or if you have a known cardiac condition. It is often hard to pick up an unusual heart rhythm unless it occurs when you are at your Doctor’s rooms or the hospital. The Holter Monitor will record every heart beat for a 24 hour period. Hopefully, by covering a longer period your unusual heart rhythm will be recorded. You have a button to press to mark an episode of dizziness, breathlessness, chest pain or when your heart is beating abnormally. On review, we can then pay particular attention to these heart rhythms to recognise what happened at that particular time. A Holter Monitor helps evaluate the type and amount of irregular heart beats during usual physical activities, exercise and sleep.
