title: [Role of ambulatory ECG in a cardiology department].
abstract: Ambulatory electrocardiographic monitoring has become an important clinical tool for the diagnosis and management of patients with symptoms suggesting cardiac arrhythmias or ischemic heart disease. Holter monitoring (H) is widely used in the evaluation of patients with recent myocardial infarction, angina pectoris, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, dilated cardiomyopathy, long QT syndrome, sinus node dysfunction. The role of H monitoring in defining prognosis in many of these heart disease is not well established. Holter monitoring is also used to evaluate the results of antiarrhythmic and antianginal drug therapy. Application of quantitative H monitoring to define drug efficacy has revealed that antiarrhythmic drugs may have a proarrhythmic effect and that a withdrawal syndrome can follow the abrupt cessation of antianginal and antiarrhythmic drugs. There are no consistent data about the optimal duration of monitoring to detect and quantify ventricular arrhythmias and ischemic attacks. We think that the appropriate duration of monitoring must be adjusted to the single patient, considering: a) the frequency and severity of symptoms; b) the cardiac lesion (s) and functional class; c) the goal of H. When used appropriately H can be a cost-effective tool and may prevent hospitalizations.
mesh_terms: D000787:Angina Pectoris / Q000175:diagnosis; D000889:Anti-Arrhythmia Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy; D009202:Cardiomyopathies / Q000175:diagnosis; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000175:diagnosis; D004341:Drug Evaluation; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006748:Hospital Departments; D006801:Humans; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic; D011379:Prognosis
chemical_list: D000889:Anti-Arrhythmia Agents
vernacular_title: Ruolo dell'ECG dinamico in un Servizio di Cardiologia.