title: Extent of myocardial non-compaction: comparison between MRI and echocardiographic evaluation.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Non-compaction of the left ventricular myocardium is an important cause of cardiomyopathy. There is no clear consensus about its diagnostic criteria or the diagnostic test of choice. MRI is increasingly used in the pediatric cardiac field because of its superior and objective image quality.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To compare the echocardiographic and MRI findings in four patients with recently diagnosed ventricular non-compaction.
  
  
  METHODS
  We compared the extent of myocardial involvement shown at MRI and echocardiography in four individuals, two patients with echocardiographic diagnosis of left ventricular non-compaction, and two family members of one of the patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In all patients, MRI showed wider area of involvement than echocardiography. A definite diagnosis was entertained in only two patients by echocardiography but in all by MRI. Cine imaging was diagnostic of the disease in all patients. Black-blood pool imaging with double-inversion recovery sequence also helped to visualize the abnormal areas by showing slow flow artifacts in the four- and two-chamber images.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  MRI provided better delineation of the extent of the abnormal trabeculation in patients with non-compaction of the left ventricular myocardium. It was particularly useful when the myocardial involvement was subtle, as in the asymptomatic family members.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Division of Cardiology, Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Fahad
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Alhabshan
authors.forename: Jeffrey F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Smallhorn
authors.forename: Fraser
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Golding
authors.forename: Norman
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Musewe
authors.forename: Robert M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Freedom
authors.forename: Shi-Joon
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Yoo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002312:Cardiomyopathy, Hypertrophic / Q000151:congenital* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004452:Echocardiography / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D010865:Pilot Projects; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D018487:Ventricular Dysfunction, Left / Q000151:congenital* / Q000175:diagnosis*