Echo Measurement (Jenni Criteria)

Here’s how to measure the non-compacted : compacted (NC:C) ratio on echocardiography for diagnosing LV non-compaction (LVNC)

🫀 Step-by-Step Echo Measurement (Jenni Criteria)

1. View:

Use the parasternal short-axis or apical 4-chamber view — where trabeculations are most prominent (usually at the apex, mid-lateral, or inferior wall).

2. Timing:

Measure at end-systole (when the myocardium is thickest and best defined).

3. Zoom in:

Magnify the region of interest — typically the apical segments.

4. Identify layers:

Non-compacted (NC) layer: the thick, spongy, trabeculated part (inner layer).

Compacted (C) layer: the thin, dense, outer myocardial layer (toward the epicardium).

5. Measure thickness:

At a perpendicular angle to the myocardial wall:

Measure the NC thickness (from endocardial border to the trough of recesses).

Measure the C thickness (from trough of recesses to epicardial surface).

6. Calculate ratio:

In this example c/b 

Where is b is the width of non compaction

Diagnostic threshold:

➡️ NC:C > 2:1 in end-systole is diagnostic (Jenni et al. criteria).

🧭 Tips

Always measure at the same site in the same cardiac cycle phase.

Color Doppler can confirm deep recesses filled with blood from the LV cavity (not coronary flow).

Compare with adjacent normal segments — non-compacted myocardium appears spongy and bilayered.