Pacemaker Monitoring:
Overview:
- The pacemaker and leads can last for years, but follow-up appointments must be kept to make sure they are working correctly. These follow-up appointments with Dr. Farhy allow for all the components of the pacemaker to be checked. Here, we will check the pacemaker settings, battery status, and check the leads to see how they interact with the heart. These appointments are critical to your long-term health and should always be kept.
Event monitor:
- Some patients experience symptoms (palpitations, dizziness, chest pains, etc) only once or twice a week. For those patients an event recorder is used as it monitors electrical heart activity continuously. The information is sent via cell phone technology to a central station that is monitored by a trained technician 24/7. At the same time the patient can signal and record if he/she experiences symptoms. All the recordings are sent to the ordering physician for analysis and interpretation. If serious abnormalities are detected the ordering physician can be notified immediately. The patient is contacted and given instructions (ie: go to emergency, take different medication, etc)
Details:
- Most of the time the monitor will be sent to your home via UPS or FedEx. Easy to follow instructions are provided on how to set up the monitor yourself. If you need help you can contact our office or the toll free number provided with the equipment. Be sure to keep track of your symptoms and the time of the recording in the diary provided. You will wear this monitor for 2-3 weeks unless otherwise instructed. When test period is done, you will set up an appointment with your physician to review the tracings and the interpretation.
