Are current echocardiographic criteria for left-ventricular non-compaction too sensitive in patients with left-ventricular systolic dysfunction?
Current echocardiographic diagnostic criteria for left-ventricular non-compaction may be too sensitive and require reappraisal, especially for black individuals with heart failure.
This study demonstrates an unexpectedly high percentage of patients with heart failure fulfilling current echocardiographic criteria for LVNC. This might be explained by a hitherto underestimated cause of heart failure, but the comparison with controls suggests that current diagnostic criteria are too sensitive, particularly in black individuals.
Kohli et al. (2007) studied this question.