Ventricular noncompaction: Over or under diagnosis?

Ventricular noncompaction (VNC) describes a cardiomyopathy characterized by excessivemyocardial trabeculations and deep intertrabecular recesses. Detection rates are increasinglyrising and the frequency of NVC has changed from a disease that is thought to be rare to thatdescribed as ‘relatively common’. However, there had been a number of un-answered questionsregarding the clinical and echocardiographic features of VNC. In this review we discuss the frequencyof VNC and emphasize its distinctive clinical features and associations.