Why Choose Canadian Cardiology Services?

Holter scanning is an art form, not just an auto-generated report. Those generating the report should be skilled in arrhythmia recognition, ST/T wave changes, as well as the causative mechanisms that create these changes. The scanner, which should always be a “certified technologist”, (Canadian Cardiology Services will only employ certified technologists) should be able to discern the following:

• All AV nodal blocks
• Which lead hook-up to use to recognize Bundle Branch Blocks
• Chronic or intermittent fascicular blocks with only two views
• Inversely-proportional PRI versus Heart Rate
• Aberrancy from Ventricular ectopy
• Drug efficacy
• Pacemaker malfunctions
• Electrolyte influences on the QRS complex, heart rate, QTI, and ectopy
• When to stop the scan and notify the physician
• How to correlate the diary to patient Signs & Symptoms
• Chronotropic Incompetence
• Antegrade/Retrograde accessory pathway transmission

The above list is just a sample of the skill sets required to accurately portray the true value of the holter report. Unskilled scanners have diminished the value of a holter scan, with many physicians, and in some cases has rendered the test to be removed from their assessment options. This is not because of the validity of the test, but because of the poorly created report that did not provide the information necessary for a diagnosis, or it was simply overlooked.

Manufacturers invest thousands of dollars to create advanced algorithms to capture as much information as accurately as possible. The one thing they hope for is that the user is capable of maximizing the value of the algorithms by having a strong background in electrocardiography.

Having over fifteen years of not only teaching the art of scanning at a college level, I have aided outside companies with interpretive methods, as well as helping staff to use a logical and correlative approach to scanning.

For Additional Information click on Message to the Physicians

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