Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Cardiol. Nov 26, 2021; 13(11): 608-627
Published online Nov 26, 2021. doi: 10.4330/wjc.v13.i11.608
Cardiac monitoring for patients with palpitations
Jaume Francisco-Pascual, Javier Cantalapiedra-Romero, Jordi Pérez-Rodon, Begoña Benito, Alba Santos-Ortega, Jenson Maldonado, Ignacio Ferreira-Gonzalez, Nuria Rivas-Gándara
Jaume Francisco-Pascual, Javier Cantalapiedra-Romero, Jordi Pérez-Rodon, Begoña Benito, Alba Santos-Ortega, Jenson Maldonado, Ignacio Ferreira-Gonzalez, Nuria Rivas-Gándara, Unitat d'Arritmies, Servei de Cardiologia, Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Vall d’Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR), Vall d’Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus, Barcelona 08035, Spain
Jaume Francisco-Pascual, Jordi Pérez-Rodon, Begoña Benito, Alba Santos-Ortega, Ignacio Ferreira-Gonzalez, Nuria Rivas-Gándara, Facultat de Medicina, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra 08193, Barcelona, Spain
Jaume Francisco-Pascual, Jordi Pérez-Rodon, Begoña Benito, Alba Santos-Ortega, Ignacio Ferreira-Gonzalez, Nuria Rivas-Gándara, CIBER de Enfermedades Cardiovasculares (CIBERCV), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid 28029, Spain
Author contributions: Francisco-Pascual J prepared the concept, design, draft and editing of the manuscript; Cantalapiedra-Romero J contributed to collecting data, creating the tables and figures and writing part of the manuscript; all other authors contributed to the design and review of the manuscript and agreed with the content of its final version.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The Arrhythmia Unit receives fellowship grants from Boston Scientific and research grants from Abbott. J. Francisco-Pascual receives advisory and speaking honoraria from Abbott and Microport. N. Rivas-Gándara receives advisory and speaking honoraria from Abbott., B. Benito, J. Perez-Rodon and A. Santos-Ortega receives speaking honoraria from Abbott. The other authors report no conflicts.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Jaume Francisco-Pascual, MD, Doctor, Senior Researcher, Staff Physician, Unitat d'Arritmies, Servei de Cardiologia, Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Vall d’Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR), Vall d’Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus, Passeig Vall d'Hebron 119-129, Barcelona 08035, Spain. jafranci@vhebron.net
Received: May 2, 2021
Peer-review started: May 2, 2021
First decision: June 17, 2021
Revised: June 27, 2021
Accepted: October 31, 2021
Article in press: October 31, 2021
Published online: November 26, 2021
Abstract

Palpitations are one of the most common reasons for medical consultation. They tend to worry patients and can affect their quality of life. They are often a symptom associated with cardiac rhythm disorders, although there are other etiologies. For diagnosis, it is essential to be able to reliably correlate the symptoms with an electrocardiographic record allowing the identification or ruling out of a possible rhythm disorder. However, reaching a diagnosis is not always simple, given that they tend to be transitory symptoms and the patient is frequently asymptomatic at the time of assessment. In recent years, electrocardiographic monitoring systems have incorporated many technical improvements that solve several of the 24-h Holter monitor limitations. The objective of this review is to provide an update on the different monitoring methods currently available, remarking their indications and limitations, to help healthcare professionals to appropriately select and use them in the work-up of patients with palpitations.

Keywords: Palpitation, Cardiac monitoring, Electrocardiogram, Loop recorder

Core Tip: In recent years, electrocardiographic monitoring systems have incorporated many technical improvements that solve several of the 24-h Holter monitor limitations. This review provides an update on the different electrocardiographic cardiac monitoring methods currently available, remarking their indications and limitations, to help healthcare professionals appropriately select and use them in the work-up of patients with palpitations.