Published in:
Open Access 01-12-2013 | Case report
‘Honeycomb appearance’ on three-dimensional transthoracic echocardiography as the landmark of left ventricular non-compaction: two case reports
Published in: Journal of Medical Case Reports | Issue 1/2013
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Introduction
Left ventricular non-compaction is a rare congenital heart disease, and is most commonly diagnosed via two-dimensional echocardiography according to echocardiographic criteria. Recently, transthoracic three-dimensional echocardiography has become available in the clinical setting.
Case presentation
We present two isolated cases of left ventricular non-compaction from Japan (in an 84-year-old woman and 47-year-old man) that were confirmed by two-dimensional echocardiography, contrast-enhanced two-dimensional echocardiography, three-dimensional echocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging. In both cases, three-dimensional echocardiography successfully demonstrated the trabecular meshwork of the left ventricle, referred to as a ‘honeycomb appearance’.
Conclusions
Three-dimensional echocardiography has the advantage of visualizing an en-face view of the trabecular meshwork, which is not possible with two-dimensional echocardiography. We further emphasize the clinical utility of three-dimensional echocardiography, which is not limited to just the observation of the trabeculations and inter-trabecular recesses, but can also visualize the trabecular meshwork with a ‘honeycomb appearance’.