Heart failure & cardiomyopathiesResearch article
Adipose Tissue in and Around the Heart: Structural and Functional Insights From Cardiac Magnetic Resonance
- Narrative review
Study context
- Population
- Physiological and pathological cardiac adipose tissue (ischemic and nonischemic conditions) assessed by CMR
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Cardiac adipose tissue on CMR: physiological vs pathological fat deposits
- Cardiac adipose tissue is normally present in the epicardium; a variable amount can be in the myocardium, particularly subepicardial RV anterolateral and apical regions
- Pathological adipose tissue changes occur in ischemic (previous MI) and nonischemic conditions (previous myocarditis, arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy, lipomatous hypertrophy of the interatrial septum, cardiac lipomas and liposarcomas), with or without extensive replacement-type myocardial fibrosis
- CMR is the gold standard imaging technique to characterize myocardial tissue changes and distinguish physiological from pathological cardiac fat deposits
Original publication
Adipose Tissue in and Around the Heart: Structural and Functional Insights From Cardiac Magnetic Resonance. Circulation. Published 8 September 2025. doi:10.1161/circulationaha.124.072926
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it