Correlation analysis of epicardial adipose tissue and ventricular myocardial strain in Chinese amateur marathoners using cardiac magnetic resonance

Background: The volume of epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) is associated with an increased incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD); however, only a few studies have examined its effect on the myocardial function of endurance in athletes. The association between the EAT and the variation of myocardial function is still unclear in amateur marathoners. Consequently, by using some sedentary individuals as the control, this study aims to evaluate the correlation between the EAT volume and the myocardial strain in the left and right ventricles of Chinese amateur marathoners by cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR). Methods: A total of 30 amateur marathoners were included as the exercise group and 20 sedentary people as a control group. All participants received the cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) to measure the left and right ventricular end-diastolic volume, end-systolic volume and volume index, stroke volume and index, cardiac output index, ejection fraction and myocardial mass, the EAT volume, global radial, circumferential, and longi-tudinal strains, and the strain rates of left and right ventricular myocardium. Results: There was a significant difference in the EAT volume (EATV) index between the exercise group and the control group (26.82±11.76ml/m2 vs 37.82±17.15ml/m2, P = 0.01). Results from the multivariate linear regression analysis showed that BMI (standardized β = 0.458; P