Effectiveness of Telemetry Guidelines in Predicting Clinically Significant Arrhythmias in Hospitalized Patients

Abstract

Background: Cardiac rhythm monitoring is widely applied on hospitalized patients. However, its value has not been evaluated systematically.

Methods: This study considered the utility of our institutional telemetry guidelines in predicting clinically significant arrhythmias. A retrospective analysis was performed of 562 patients admitted to the telemetry unit. A total of 1932 monitoring days were evaluated. Patients were divided into 2 groups based on telemetry guidelines: "telemetry indicated" and "telemetry not indicated".

Results: Differences in arrhythmia event rates and pre-defined clinical significance were determined. One hundred and forty-four (34%) vs. 16 (11%) patients had at least one arrhythmic event in the "telemetry indicated" group compared with the "telemetry not indicated" group, respectively (P = 0.001). No patient in the "telemetry not indicated" group had a clinically significant arrhythmia. In contrast, of patients in the "telemetry indicated" group who had at least one arrhythmic event, 36% were considered clinically significant (P < 0.05).

Conclusion: In conclusion, this study validates and supports the use of our institutional telemetry guidelines to allocate this resource appropriately and predict clinically significant arrhythmias.




Cardiol Res. 2012;3(1):16-22
doi: https://doi.org/10.4021/cr129w