Isolated ventricular noncompaction, a rare genetic cardiomyopathy, is thought to be caused by the arrest of normal myocardial morphogenesis. It is characterized by prominent, excessive trabeculation in a ventricular wall segment and deep intertrabecular recesses perfused from the ventricular cavity. The condition can present with heart failure, systematic embolic events, and ventricular arrhythmias. Two-dimensional echocardiography is the typical diagnostic method. We report a case of heart failure in a 35-year-old man who presented with palpitations. Two-dimensional echocardiograms revealed left ventricular noncompaction, which markedly improved after standard heart failure therapy.
Keywords: Cardiomyopathies/diagnosis/prevention & control; heart defects, congenital/diagnostic imaging; heart failure/etiology; heart ventricles/abnormalities/diagnostic imaging; isolated noncompaction of the ventricular myocardium/complications/diagnostic imaging/drug therapy; treatment outcome; ventricular dysfunction, left/etiology.