- drsumedh25@gmail.com
- 9179082358
Ramteke's Skin & Heart Associates | Dr. Sumedh Ramteke | Dr. Pooja Manwar Ramteke
Loop Recorder
Home / Loop Recorder
Loop Recorder
An implantable loop recorder is a type of heart-monitoring device that records your heart rhythm continuously for up to three years. It allows your doctor to remotely monitor your heartbeat while you go about your daily activities. The small device, also called a cardiac event recorder, is placed just under the skin of your chest during a minor surgery.
Loop recorder implantation is considered a minor procedure. For the procedure, your heart healthcare provider (cardiologist) places the small device under your skin, in your chest wall, overlying the heart. The machine works as an electrocardiogram (ECG).
Living With Device
No special care is needed after the wound site has healed weeks later. An identification card will be sent to your home, akin to a license, with your name, your physician’s name, and the model and make of your implantable loop monitor listed for you to keep close to you. This is beneficial and necessary when you are traveling by plane and need to go through metal detectors; these devices are only recording devices and do not emit any signals and are safe for travel and transit through metal detectors.
Other times, you will need to have this card and information handy if you present to an Emergency Department with a clinical episode of syncope, dizziness, or palpitations, so the hospital physicians can have your device checked for any recorded abnormal heart rhythms. No special precautions are needed during daily activity with microwaves, wireless phones, antitheft detectors at stores, or handheld digital devices.
When To Remove The Monitor?
The typical battery for an implantable loop monitor can continue to record your heart rhythm for up to 2 to 3 years. It is advisable to keep the device in place until your clinical symptoms have recurred frequently enough to allow for adequate correlation with the device’s recordings of your heart rhythm. If you have a clinical event and the implantable loop monitor records a heart rhythm disturbance, you may be recommended for further testing or therapeutic procedures. This can include a possible recommendation for a permanent pacemaker implant, possibly an implantable cardiac defibrillator, or sometimes a diagnostic electric study of your heart followed by a therapeutic procedure in an attempt to cure you of any recurrent abnormal heart rhythms. In addition, abnormal heart rhythms that have implications for the risk of stroke, such as atrial fibrillation, can also be detected; if so, institution of blood thinning anticoagulation medication to mitigate and reduce that risk may be a possible outcome. Finally, once adequate clinical information has been gleaned, your device can be removed at any time with a similar procedure as performed at the time of implantation.