title: Evidence-based Recommendations for the Evaluation of Palpitations in the Primary Care Setting.
abstract: Palpitations are a symptom of many cardiac and noncardiac conditions. The patient's history, physical examination, appropriately directed laboratory tests, and basic electrocardiogram are helpful in evaluating palpitations and may be essential to finding a diagnosis. There are many outpatient options for the evaluation of palpitations caused by a presumed cardiogenic cause. These evaluation tools include Holter monitor, event monitor, transtelephonic electrocardiographic monitor, treadmill exercise stress test, echocardiography, and electrophysiologic studies. Most patients can be evaluated as an outpatient, but there are reasons, such as hemodynamic compromise, that may require admission to an inpatient setting to complete the diagnostic workup.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Hartford Hospital, 80 Seymour Street, Hartford, CT 06102, USA; University of Connecticut, School of Medicine, 263 Farmington Avenue, CT 06030, USA. Electronic address: Joel.Wilken@hhchealth.org.
authors.forename: Joel
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wilken
mesh_terms: D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D015716:Electrocardiography, Ambulatory; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D006801:Humans; D008487:Medical History Taking; D010808:Physical Examination; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000379:methods*
keywords: Arrhythmia; Electrocardiographic monitoring; Evaluation; Palpitations