Noncompaction cardiomyopathy and dextroversion of the heart

The prevalence of patients with noncompaction is reported to be 0.014% on echocardiographic examination. The estimated incidence of dextroversion (dextrocardia with isolated reversal of the heart with normally positioned visceral organs) is 1:2,800, while the real incidence of dextroversion and left ventricular noncompaction is still not known; to our knowledge only two cases have been reported in the literature. Noncompaction can generally be diagnosed using echocardiography; however, in the case reported here cardiac magnetic resonance imaging was important for the definitive diagnosis of dextroversion and noncompaction, because no adequate echocardiographic images could be obtained.