Heart Health Studies with a Loop Recorder at Dignity Health - St. Rose Dominican Hospitals

A loop recorder painlessly records the electrical activity of your heart as you go about your day. It is sometimes called an ambulatory EKG (or ECG), cardiac event recorder, or memory loop recorder. A loop recorder keeps track of the strength of each beat, the pattern and rhythm of beats, and your overall heart rate. For instance, it detects when your heart is beating unevenly, too fast, or weakly.

Take our online heart health assessment to better understand your risk of developing a heart condition. You can find a cardiologist online to learn more about monitoring with a loop recorder in Las Vegas and Henderson, NV. You can also call Dignity Health - St. Rose Dominican hospitals at (702) 616-4900.

Reasons Your Doctor Will Order an Ambulatory EKG

Loop recorders help your doctor diagnose and monitor heart problems, including cardiac arrhythmias (abnormal heartbeats).

Loop recorders track heart activity in blocks of time, such as five minutes. They continually erase and re-record your heart’s activity during these blocks, or loops. If you experience a symptom, you activate the device. This prevents it from erasing the recording. As a result, you can capture your heart’s activity before, during, and after the event. For example, if you faint, you can activate the device after you regain consciousness and it will keep the last loop of activity. 

Loop recorders help detect problems that a standard EKGs can miss because the standard method only shows your heart’s activity at one point in time.

What is it Like to Wear a Cardiac Event Recorder?

A technician or nurse will set up your loop recorder and show you how to use it. He or she will put painless, sticky electrodes on your chest. The electrodes attach to the recorder, about the size of a small cellphone. You carry the monitor in your pocket or clip it to your belt. The monitor sends your recordings to your doctor’s office or you may be shown how to send them over the phone.

You will go about your normal day while you’re wearing a loop recorder. The electrodes can get wet, so there’s no need to avoid bathing or showering. If you need to change them, your technician or nurse will tell you how.

You may need to wear a loop recorder for days, weeks, or up to a month. There are no known risks of wearing a loop monitor.

What’s Next After a Loop Recorder Test in Las Vegas, NV

The results of your loop recorder can help your doctor tell if:

• Your symptoms are caused by an abnormal heartbeat
• Your heart isn’t getting the oxygen it needs
• Your implanted defibrillator, pacemaker, or medicines are working as expected

Your doctor may recommend additional treatments or tests based on the recordings of your symptoms.