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Introduction

A Holter monitor is a portable test that records the electrical activity in your child's heart over 24-48 hours while they go about their usual day and during sleep. 

The Holter monitor is a battery-powered device with five wires called leads. The leads are attached to sticky electrodes worn on your child's chest. 

Electrical impulses from every heartbeat are picked up by the electrodes and sent to an amplifier. The amplifier records the information and sends it to a computer for checking.

A Holter monitor can be used for children of all ages to check things like:

• chest pain that cannot be reproduced with exercise testing
• signs and symptoms that could be heart-related, like tiredness, dizziness, or fainting
• irregular heartbeats or palpitations
• the risk of your child developing heart conditions in the future, like cardiomyopathy or Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome
• how an implanted pacemaker is working
• effectiveness of treatments used for complex arrhythmias.

Your child's doctor or technician will explain the test to you, including how long the monitor needs to be worn, and answer any questions you may have. 

The technician will then:

1. attach five sticky electrodes to your child's chest
2. clip the leads on the monitor to each of the electrodes
3. clip the monitor to your child's clothing, around their waist with a belt, or around the neck with a lanyard.

You will be asked to keep a diary while your child has the monitor on, recording their daily activities and whether any symptoms occur, like:

• dizziness
• heart palpitations
• chest pain.

Your child cannot shower, bathe, or swim while the monitor is on, and they must be careful not to drop the monitor.

Once the monitor is set up, your child can continue their day as usual.

The monitor will stop recording after the set time.

To remove the monitor:

• unclip the cables from the electrodes
• gently peel the electrodes off your child's chest
• put the electrodes in the rubbish bin.

The monitor and diary will be returned to the clinic, and the results will be transferred from the memory card to a computer.

Your child's treatment team will use the monitoring and diary information to understand the results.

The results will be sent to your child's doctor. You will need to book a follow-up appointment with them to discuss the results and any further tests or treatment.