Holter question - artifact?

[ccc12341234]

So I recently got a Holter due to intermittent palpitations and when I talked to the doc he said it looked a little tachy but fine. He said he didn't even see any PVCs. I got the report back and was curious why he didn't mention anything else. I'm sure he's seen thousands of Holter results, so I'm not too concerned if he's not, but just out of curiousity could the report's results (mostly the ectopic beats) be entirely caused by artifact?

Results:
Average HR 69 bpm. Total of 121212 QRS complexes detected over 24 hours.
Total ventricular ectopics 5698 (4.70% of all beats): 3009 isolated, 747 pairs, 5 bigeminy cycles, 1 trigeminy cycle, and 335 runs comprised of 1176 VE beats (longest run was supposedly 12 beats at 126 bpm)
Total supraventricular ectopics 2345 (1.93% of all beats): 1767 isolated, 193 pairs, 44 runs comprised of 192 SVE beats (longest run was 32 beats at 125 bpm)
Pauses >2.5 sec: 44 pauses (longest was supposedly 4.5 sec)...I suspect these were due to low voltage

[MichelleP_3811]

That is almost 10,000 premature beats.  Not sure how the doctor could say that they didn't see any pvcs.  I question whether they were looking at the right report and not some other patient.  Not that they would do anything for the amount of beats you are having beyond give you beta blockers but you may want to seek a second opinion and/or question your cardiologist why they said you didn't have any pvcs when the reports shows so many of them.  You have a right to ask for clarification.

Other than that I would try and see if you can pinpoint triggers that are causing you to have so many premature beats.  Try to avoid caffeine, sugar and carbohydrates.  Heavy meals and spicy meals or anything that causes acid reflux.  Try to stay well hydrated and work on any stress or anxiety in your life.  Those tend to be the biggest triggers for most.  Addressing those things may help lessen the amount of premature beats you have.  Ultimately the cardiology field sees them as harmless at this time unless it comprises more than 20% of your beats so we have to do our best to manage them on our own but if they really bother you, you can ask for a low dose beta blocker and see if that helps.  Take care.

[gethprime]

If I recall correctly the cutoff percentage is 20% or higher. And yes artifacts can be present.  But the issue is what were the causes of those artifacts. It could be anything. I was hooked up to the monitor at the er and I was tapping on a few leads and it was setting off a few pics marks on the screen

[gethprime]

Pvcs  stupid auto correct lol