Myocardial deformation pattern in left ventricular non-compaction: Comparison with dilated cardiomyopathy

Introduction: Left ventricular (LV) systolic dysfunction is the most frequent initial presentation of patient with LV noncompaction (NC). Our objectives were to evaluate myocardial contraction properties in patients with LVNC and the relationship of non-compacted segments with the degree of global and regional systolic deformation. Methods: We included 50 LVNC with an echocardiography and speckle imaging calculation of peak longitudinal strain (PLS). Each of the 16 LV myocardial segments was defined as NC (ratio NC/compacted layer > 2), borderline (NC/C 0–2) and compacted (NC/C = 0). Basal, median and apical strain values were calculated as the average of segmental strain values. For comparison a group of 50 patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) underwent the same measurements. Results: There was no statistical difference between the 2 groups for any conventional LV systolic parameters. A characteristic deformation pattern was observed in LVNC with higher strain values in the LV apical segments (−12.8 ± 5.9 vs −10.7 ± 5.7) and an apical–basal ratio (1.52 ± 0.73 vs 1.12 ± 0.42; p