Introduction 1 et al. 2 3 Methods Patient populations The study comprised 17 patients with an established diagnosis of NCCM and their results were compared to 17 healthy age-matched controls with no evidence of cardiovascular disease. All patients and control subjects were in sinus rhytm and all of them were examined by two-dimensional echocardiography (2DE) and RT3DE. Diagnostic criteria for NCCM et al. 4 2DE examination 2 2 2 RT3DE examination 3D 3D 3D-MAD 3D-MAA 3D 3D 2 3 2 1 Fig. 1 A B  Statistical analysis t r P 3D 5 3D  MRI 3D MRI Results Clinical and 2D echocardiographic data 1 2 Table 1 Demographic and clinical data Parameter n n Age (years) 48 ± 20 43 ± 10 Male sex (%) 8 (47) 11 (65) Diabetes mellitus (%) 9 (53) 10 (59) Hypercholesterolaemia (%) 10 (59) 11 (65) NYHA-class II/III HF (%) 3 (18)/4 (24) 0 (0) Abbreviations: NCCM: noncompaction cardiomyopathy, NYHA-class II/III HF: New York Heart Association functional class II/III heart failure Table 2 Echocardiographic data Parameter n n 2D echocardiography     LV-EDD (mm) 60.6 ± 11.0 ** 51.2 ± 6.6     LV-ESD (mm) 48.1 ± 13.0 ** 33.0 ± 6.7     LV-FS (%) 22.1 ± 17.1 ** 35.7 ± 6.4     Mitral inflow A wave velocity (cm/s) 50.1 ± 16.2 * 41.8 ± 9.2 Mitral regurgitation     No 8 (47) * 15 (88)     Mild 6 (35) * 2 (12)      Moderate-severe 3 (18) * 0 (0) RT3DE examination 3D 3.5 ± 0.5 * 3.2 ± 0.3 3D 2 12.0 ± 2.8 * 7.9 ± 1.4 3D-MAD  3.8 ± 2.2 * 2.3 ± 1.0 3D-MAA 12.7 ± 7.6 ** 4.9 ± 2.1 P P Abbreviations: 2D: two-dimensional, 3D: three-dimensional, A: mitral inflow A wave velocity measured by pulsed Doppler, D: diastolic, EDD: enddiastolic diameter, ESD: endsystolic diameter, FS: fractional shortening, NYHA-class II/III HF: New York Heart Association functional class II/III heart failure, LA-EF: left atrial ejection force, LV: left ventricular, MAA: mitral annulus area, MAD: mitral annulus diameter, NCCM: noncompaction cardiomyopathy RT3DE data 3D 3D  3D-MAD 3D-MAA P 2 Discussion 1 6 9 2 3D-MAA 3 3D  5 3D  10 3 10 3 3D-MAA 3D 3 11 11 12 13 14 Limitations 15 16 17 Conclusions LAEF is increased in NCCM patients compared to normal individuals. These results can suggest compensating left atrial work against the dysfunctional LV in NCCM patients. However, further studies are warranted evaluating LA function by RT3DE in patients with different stages of NCCM.