14th International Congress
THE "NEW FRONTIERS"
OF ARRHYTHMIAS 2000

Jan. 29 - Feb. 5, 2000
Marilleva, Trento, Italy

RT-29

Computerized Holter monitoring: a comprehensive noninvasive electrophysiological test for the identification of patients at high risk of ventricular arrhythmias

Emanuela Locati Heilbron.
Cattedra di Cardiologia e Fisiopatologia Cardiovascolare, Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica, Patologia e Farmacologia, Universita degli Studi di Perugia, Ospedale Silvestrini, Perugia, Italy

Advancements in Holter monitoring systems

From its first introduction in 1957, long-term Holter monitoring systems underwent a major technologic evolution, both in the acquisition and in the analysis of the ECG signals⁶. The new computerized Holter analysis systems not only provide the quantitative analysis of supraventricular and ventricular arrhythmias and ST segment deviation from baseline, but also evaluate short and long-term heart rate variability (HRV), and more recently some parameters of QT interval dynamics. These new analyses can indirectly explore the electrophysiological characteristics of the cardiac substrate, and the effect of the autonomic nervous system activity, contributing to clarify the mechanisms involved in the genesis of cardiac arrhythmias.

In the last decade, evolving from the original analogical Holter recording on magnetic tapes, new digital Holter recorders have been developed, based on solid-state memory media with large storage capacity. Those digital Holter recorders can record 3 to 12 simultaneous leads for 24-48 hours, providing high-quality digital ECG signals with high sampling rate (200-1000 Hz). Despite these important advantages, digital Holter recorders have not yet substituted analogical tape Holter recorders in routine clinical and research applications, due to some unsolved logistic limitations.