The Clinical Use of Ambulatory Monitoring in Arrhythmia Evaluation

A review of current clinical use of ambulatory monitoring in arrhythmia evaluation is presented. Ambulatory monitoring is particularly useful for evaluating the role played by known or syspected cardiac arrhythmias in patient symptomatology. Ambulatory monitoring can be useful in the evaluation of the clinical significance of conduction defects or complex ventricular arrhythmias observed in the ECG-recording of the asymptomatic patient. Its role in the evaluation of risk of sudden death in the asymptomatic patient is doubtful at present. Other parameters such as ventricular failure and exercise ECG seem more useful. Improved technology can remove most present drawbacks and increase utility of the technique.