Magnetic resonance imaging does not always confirm left ventricular noncompaction.

Left ventricular hypertrabeculation/noncompaction (LVHT) is diagnosed echocardiographically or by other imaging techniques, like cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMRI). LVHT was diagnosed echocardiographically in a 48-year-old woman with peripheric embolism and a neuromuscular disorder of unknown etiology. The spongiform trabecular meshwork was located in the ventricular lateral and posterior wall. CMRI failed to visualize LVHT and showed only a homogenously thickened structure. The reason for overlooking LVHT on cardiac magnetic resonance imaging might be poor image quality due to movement and respiration artefacts, the fine meshwork, exceeding the resolution capacity of the technique, and the atypical location of LVHT. CMRI does not confirm LVHT in every case on each occasion. This is most likely due to limitations in image resolution of the technique and movement artefacts of the myocardium.