RESUMO
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To apply echocardiography in diagnosis of isolated noncompaction of ventricular myocardium (INVM) in adults.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Six patients with INVM underwent echocardiographic examination using HP5500 ultrasound system with the frequency of 2 approximately equals 4 MHz, and the observation was focused on ventricularmyocardium and endocardium at one-third of the apex.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>All 6 patients showed typical echocardiographic images characterized by an altered structure of the ventricular myocardium with extremely thickened, hypokinetic segments consisting of two layers: a thin, compacted epicardium and an extremely thickened endocardium, resulting in an extremely thickened ventricular wall.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Echocardiography should be the first choice to be applied in diagnosis of INVM, which is a distinct entity of specific cardiomyopathy in adults.</p>