Left ventricular noncompaction: a new form of heart failure.

In this article the newly classified cardiomyopathy known as left ventricular noncompaction is discussed. This genetic inherited form of heart disease has substantial risk of heart failure, stroke, metabolic derangement, arrhythmias, and sudden cardiac death. The disorder seems to occur because of an arrest of the normal process of development, and the genes identified to date seem to encode for cytoskeletal or sarcomeric proteins. These features are outlined.