Two years ago my EP wanted to put one in...he explained what it was , how it worked and that the battery would last about five years. He then said "we don't remove them, they are harmless we just leave them there." I said you are not leaving a useless hunk of junk in my chest." He still never offered to remove it. So we did not go that route and never will. We always seem to be at odds with one another...maybe we should part ways. Dr. Pradip Jamnadas gave an excellent explanation of the loop.

It definitely gives you peace of mind to let the Dr know what your feeling has a reason

@A MyHeartDiseaseTeam Member, My Medtronic has lasted 3 years and 6 months. My doctor gave me the option of removing it, replacing it, or leaving it in. They are going to replace it with an Abbott loop recorder on December 18th. They say this one will last 6+ years. That sure is better than the one I have now. It is Bluetooth-enabled and offers better data collection and clearer EKG so I am happy with this choice. I had to cancel the procedure yesterday because they did not tell me to stop the Eliquis 24 hours prior to the procedure.

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A MyHeart...

An implantable loop recorder is a device that records the heartbeat continuously for up to three years. It's also called a cardiac event recorder. The device tells your care provider how the heart is beating while you do your daily activities.

The small device is placed just under the skin of the chest during a minor surgery.

Why it's done
Your health care provider may recommend an implantable loop recorder if you have:

An irregular heartbeat, called an arrhythmia.
An unexplained stroke.
Unexplained fainting.
An implantable loop recorder continuously checks the heartbeat for a long period of time. That means it can see changes in the heartbeat that other heart-recording devices may miss. For example, it may find irregular heartbeats that are brief or that only happen once in a while.

If you have been fainting, your health care provider may recommend this device to see if a heart problem is the cause. Information from the recorder can help your provider make a diagnosis and plan treatment.

An implantable loop recorder also may be recommended if you're at high risk of stroke. Some irregular heartbeats, such as atrial fibrillation, increase the risk of stroke.

I have had this suggested by my Cardiologists recently so I'm very happy that this video was shared. I really think I'm going to go forward and have one put in.