Heart Disease Health Center

Why It Is Done

Ambulatory EKG monitoring is done to:

• Look for and record irregular heartbeats that occur intermittently or during certain activities.
• Find out what is causing chest pain, dizziness, or fainting. These are symptoms of possible heart problems.
• Look for poor blood flow to your heart muscle (ischemia).
• Check to see if treatment for an irregular heartbeat is working.

How To Prepare

Many medicines may change the results of this test. Be sure to tell your doctor about all the nonprescription and prescription medicines you take.

Since an EKG is often used to monitor a preexisting heart condition, such as an irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia), make sure that your doctor has copies of any previous EKG results.

Take a shower or bath before the discs are put on. You will not be able to get the discs wet during the test. Wear a loose blouse or shirt. Do not wear jewelry or clothes with metal buttons or buckles, because these can interfere with the recording. Women should not wear an underwire bra for the same reason.

Talk to your doctor about any concerns you have regarding the need for the test, its risks, how it will be done, or what the results will mean. To help you understand the importance of this test, fill out the medical test information form(What is a PDF document?).

How It Is Done

Continuous recorders

For this test, you wear a lightweight, battery-operated tape recorder (monitor) on a strap over your shoulder or around your waist. The recorder is connected by wires to small metal discs (electrodes) taped to your chest. The electrodes detect the electrical signals from your heart. A clock is connected to the recorder so you can note what time it is when you have any symptoms.

You will be fitted with the recorder and electrodes by a technician in a doctor's office or hospital room.

• Several areas on your chest may be shaved and cleaned, and then a small amount of electrode paste or gel will be applied to those areas.
• The electrode pads will then be attached to the skin of your chest, with thin wires connecting the electrodes to the monitor.
• You may be hooked up briefly to a standard EKG machine to ensure that the electrodes are working properly.

While wearing the continuous recorder, you will also be asked to keep a diary of all your activities and symptoms, including the type of activity you were doing and the time your symptoms started. In the diary, write down the exact times when you exercise, climb stairs, eat, urinate, have a bowel movement, have sex, sleep, get emotionally upset, take medicine, or perform other activities. If you have any symptoms of heart problems, such as dizziness, fainting, chest pain, or palpitations, push the event-marker button on the recorder to mark it and write down the exact time and how long the symptom lasts. For example, you might write: "12:30 p.m. Ate lunch. 1:00 p.m. Argument with boss, had chest tightness for several minutes."