Open AccessElectrocardiographic Self‐Recording (Patient‐Activated Event Recording)
Author(s) -
Steinbach Konrad,
Nümberg Michael,
Wessely Emil
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
annals of noninvasive electrocardiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.494
H-Index - 48
eISSN - 1542-474X
pISSN - 1082-720X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1542-474x.1996.tb00292.x
Subject(s) - medicine , cardiology , cardiac arrhythmia , electrocardiography , atrial fibrillation
Background: Although symptoms suggestive of cardiac arrhythmias are a common event in clinical routine, a standardized diagnostic approach is not available. Methods: The diagnostic accuracy of electrocardiographic self‐recording was evaluated in 115 consecutive patients presenting with symptoms suggestive of cardiac arrhythmias. Results: In 44.3% of cases, self‐recording showed cardiac arrhythmias to be the cause of the patients' symptoms; in 35.7% cardiac arrhythmias were ruled out as the cause of the patients' symptoms. Only 6.2% of the recordings were not evaluable for technical reasons. Conclusion: ECG self‐recording is more effective in detecting arrhythmias than other methods for arrhythmia monitoring. Therefore, it should be used as a first line study in patients likely to have symptomatic arrhythmias.