Noncompaction cardiomyopathy: The role of advanced multimodality imaging techniques in diagnosis and assessment

Abstract

Noncompaction cardiomyopathy (NCCM) is a unique cardiomyopathy with a diverse array of genotypic and phenotypic manifestations. Its hallmark morphology consists of a bilayered myocardium with a compact epicardial layer and prominent trabeculations that comprise the noncompacted endocardial layer. The controversial diagnostic criteria for NCCM have been frequently discussed in the literature. This review touches on those diagnostic criteria, delves further into the evolving use of advanced imaging techniques within the major imaging modalities (echocardiography, computed tomography, and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging), and proposes an alternative algorithm incorporating these techniques for aiding with the diagnosis of NCCM.

Keywords: cardiac magnetic resonance; computed tomography; echocardiography; left ventricular noncompaction; noncompaction; three-dimensional echocardiography; two-dimensional echocardiography.