title: Noninvasive evaluation of left ventricular noncompaction: what's new in 2009?
abstract: Significant interest in clinical practice as well as the medical literature exists regarding the presentation and outcome of children and adults with left-ventricular noncompaction (LVNC). The mainstay in the diagnosis of LVNC has been the anatomic definition of the ventricular myocardium by two-dimensional echocardiographic imaging. Although helpful, this approach lacks diagnostic precision and fails to evaluate the functional impact of this abnormal myocardial architecture on global and regional myocardial performance. This review will focus on the use of novel echocardiographic modalities of tissue Doppler, strain, and strain rate imaging to identify and characterize abnormalities of regional myocardial function in patients with LVNC.
authors.affiliation: Divisions of Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiovascular Diseases, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA. eidem.benjamin@mayo.edu
authors.forename: Benjamin W
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Eidem
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D009202:Cardiomyopathies / Q000151:congenital / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D002648:Child; D004452:Echocardiography; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans