Motivation:

To describe the experience of the use of an implantable cardiac monitor and analysing the final diagnosis and the time to reach it, the proportion of patients with clear aetiology and existing treatment.

Methods:

Retrospective observational study.

Results:

One hundred and eight (108) monitors explanted out of a total of 150 implanted patients between 2009 and 2015 were analysed. An electrocardiographic diagnosis matching the symptom was found in 71.7% of those with syncope, being the main cause for extreme sinus bradicardia and/or sinus arrest. Efficiency of the diagnosis for those investigated due to recurrent palpitations or suspicion of supraventricular or ventricular arrhythmias was of 29%, being the main cause of atrial fibrillation. 50% of the diagnoses were reached after monitorisation between 12 and 36 months. Pacemakers were the most frequent treatment for patients with syncope and radiofrequency ablation for those with palpitations. Regarding security, no major adverse events were found when implanting the monitor.

Conclusion:

The implantable cardiac monitor showed an adequate efficiency of diagnosis for the identification of electrocardiographic alterations in patients with syncope. More studies are required in order to elucidate its role in the study of palpitations.

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