During your initial office visit, your healthcare provider will spend time with you and learn more about your symptoms and overall health. They will:
- Conduct a physical exam.
- Discuss your medical history and your current medical conditions.
- Listen to your heart and lungs with a stethoscope.
- Check your blood pressure, heart rate and oxygen level.
An electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) records the electrical activity in your heart through electrodes attached to the body and connected to a machine with wires.
Because first-degree heart block typically has no symptoms, the condition is typically discovered during an electrocardiogram ordered for another reason.
If a pregnant person has an increased risk of having an infant with a heart block, testing typically starts before birth. Many babies are diagnosed prenatally with a fetal ECG. If the condition isn’t detected before birth, it’s usually diagnosed in infancy or early childhood through an ECG or other heart imaging tests.
During an electrophysiology study, a cardiologist uses catheters to send electrodes to the heart to gauge its electrical activity or stimulate an arrhythmia to uncover its origin.
An implantable loop recorder, which is a device implanted under the skin over your heart, records the heart’s activity, typically lasting for two to four years.
