If your doctor feels you need to be monitored for several days or weeks, you may need to have a cardiac event monitor. Your doctor may use this type of recording device if your arrhythmias are infrequent. This device is about the size of a large pager, and can be clipped to your belt or waistband or carried in your purse or pocket. When you feel symptoms, you simply hold the recorder against your chest and press a button; the device then records up to 70 seconds of ECG readings. The device can also be connected to leads that are attached to your chest; this type of monitoring, called "loop monitoring," is helpful for patients whose symptoms may happen so quickly they don't have enough time to hold the recorder to their chests while the symptoms are occurring. In both cases, information stored on the recorder can be transmitted to the Heart Rhythm Center by telephone. If you have questions about your cardiac event recorder, call Ralph Tanzi at 212-263-8880.

Cardiac Electrophysiology / Heart Rhythm Center