Left Ventricular Noncompaction

Noncompaction (“spongy heart”) is myocardial trabeculation and deep intertrabecular recesses usually of the left ventricle (LV) that is increasingly being recognized with more frequent and precise cardiac imaging. It is unclear if noncompacted myocardium is an anatomic phenotype or a unique type of cardiomyopathy that inevitably causes symptoms and illness. This video is 4-chamber magnetic resonance cine imaging showing reduced biventricular function in a woman in her 30s with dyspnea on exertion, nonsustained ventricular tachycardia, and thinned LV myocardium, prominent LV trabeculae, and deep intertrabecular recesses on static magnetic resonance imaging. LA indicates left atrium; RA, right atrium; RV, right ventricle.

Click the Related Article link for additional images and discussion.