Left ventricular non compaction a tertiary care centre experience.

AIM: To analyse the clinical profile of consecutive cases of Left Ventricular Non Compaction (LVNC), a condition characterized by excessive and prominent Left Ventricular (LV) trabeculations which may be associated with LV systolic dysfunction.

METHODS

Twenty six consecutive cases from January 2003 to December 2008 with echocardiographic evidence of hypertrabeculation of LV were evaluated by clinical examination, electrocardiographic (ECG) and echocardiographic features. Diagnosis was based on 3 published definitions.

RESULTS

Out of 26 cases of LVNC (18 Males: 8 Females) aged between 1 day and 63 years, isolated LVNC was seen in 16 cases and rest of the cases were associated with congenital heart disease (CHD), Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD) and Coronary Artery Disease (CAD). All patients were previously undiagnosed cases of LVNC. Left ventricular ejection Fraction ranged from 20-60% in these cases.

CONCLUSIONS

This study demonstrates the increased detection of patients fulfilling echocardiographic criteria of LVNC and its association with other disorders. It also shows that milder phenotypes exist and the disease is detected incidentally in some cases.