The clinical application value of insertable cardiac monitor in patients with unexplained syncope and palpitations / 中华内科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:The underlying causes of unexplained syncope and palpitations are difficult to determine in clinical practice. This study was designed to investigate the value of the insertable cardiac monitor (ICM) for the diagnosis of the unexplained syncope and palpitations.Methods:A total of 184 patients with syncope or palpitations due to unexplained reasons were enrolled in the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University (144 patients with unexplained syncope and 40 patients with unexplained palpitations) from October 2015 to October 2019. Among them, 99 patients (77 patients with unexplained syncope and 22 patients with unexplained palpitations) were received ICM implantation (the ICM implanted group) and 85 patients (67 patients with unexplained syncope and 18 patients with unexplained palpitations) were not (the non-ICM implanted group). The patients in the ICM implanted group were followed up once every 3 months until the occurrence of syncope or palpitations. During follow-up, the electrocardiograph (ECG) data recorded by ICM were collected and analyzed retrospectively. The patients in the non-ICM implanted group underwent routine follow-up.Results:The follow-up time of the ICM implanted group was (29.3±9.3) months, and the follow-up time of the non-ICM implanted group was (27.2±10.4) months. The total detection rate (syncope and palpitations) in the implanted ICM group was much higher than that in the non-ICM implanted group (38.4% vs. 3.5%, P<0.001), with syncope detection rate of 40.3% in the implanted ICM group and 3.0% in the non-ICM implanted group ( P<0.001), and palpitation detection rate of 31.8% in the implanted ICM group and 5.6% in the non-ICM implanted group ( P<0.05). Conclusions:Application of ICM greatly improved the diagnosis rate of patients with unexplained syncope and palpitations. It is recommended for patients with unexplained syncope and palpitations to implant ICM as soon as possible.