Diagnostic Value of Implantable Loop Recorders in Patients with Unexplained Syncope or Palpitations

Overview

Journal Ann Noninvasive Electrocardiol

Specialty Cardiology & Vascular Diseases

Date 2021 Jun 7

PMID 34097780

Citations 2

Authors

Nikola N Radovanovic

Sinisa U Pavlovic

Bratislav Kircanski

Nemanja Brankovic

Nikola Vujadinovic

Vojislav Sajic

Ana Milasinovic

Vesna Bisenic

Mirjana Zivkovic

Goran Milasinovic

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: The implantable loop recorder (ILR) is a small cardiac rhythm-monitoring device. Our aim was to determine ILR diagnostic value in patients with unexplained syncope, presyncope, or palpitations suggesting cardiac arrhythmias.

Methods: This has been a retrospective, observational, single-center study. We included 181 patients in whom ILR was implanted at the Clinical Center of Serbia between January 2006 and July 2019. An event was marked as diagnostic if it led to a diagnosis and ILR was considered diagnostic if it verified or excluded an arrhythmia as the cause of syncope or palpitations.

Results: The mean age was 51.8 ± 17.8 years and 94 (51.9%) were male. The mean follow-up period was 20.2 ± 15.8 months. ILR was diagnostic in 98 patients (54.1%). There was no significant difference in diagnostic value of ILR in regard to the baseline patients' characteristics. The mean time to occurrence of the diagnostic event was 11.1 ± 9.6 months. The time to occurrence of a diagnostic event did not differ significantly between patients who underwent basic as compared to extended diagnostics before ILR implantation.

Conclusions: ILR was able to achieve an etiological diagnosis in 54.1% of patients with unexplained syncope, presyncope, or palpitations suggesting cardiac arrhythmias. In a subgroup of patients with recurrent palpitations, ILR was significantly less diagnostic than in patients with syncope or presyncope. ILR should be implanted beforehand in syncope evaluation process.

Citing Articles

The Diagnostic Yield of Implantable Loop Recorders Stratified by Indication: A "Real-World" Single-Center Experience.

Pistelli L, Cori A, Parollo M, Torre M, Fiorentini F, Barletta V J Clin Med. 2025; 14(4).

PMID: 40004583 PMC: 11856419. DOI: 10.3390/jcm14041052.

Breast MRI in patients with implantable loop recorder: initial experience.

Nissan N, Ochoa-Albiztegui R, Fruchtman H, Gluskin J, Eskreis-Winkler S, Horvat J Eur Radiol. 2023; 34(1):155-164.

PMID: 37555957 PMC: 11181953. DOI: 10.1007/s00330-023-10025-3.

Diagnostic value of implantable loop recorders in patients with unexplained syncope or palpitations.

Radovanovic N, Pavlovic S, Kircanski B, Brankovic N, Vujadinovic N, Sajic V Ann Noninvasive Electrocardiol. 2021; 26(5):e12864.

PMID: 34097780 PMC: 8411757. DOI: 10.1111/anec.12864.

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