PURPOSE OF REVIEW New research supports the intuitive observation that many persons classified as obese are healthy, and should not be treated and categorized medically as diseased. There is increasing agreement that major blood biomarkers are often not discriminatory, as for example, the return to normal blood glucose levels in bariatric patients who do not have long-term benefits. Although we...

A 62-year-old man with no history of cardiac disease was referred because of exertional dyspnea. His body mass index was elevated at 29 kg/m, and a large cutaneous lipoma was present on his abdominal wall. Transthoracic echocardiography was performed and initially reported to demonstrate a moderate-sized global pericardial effusion (Figure 1 and Movies 1 and 2). Consideration was given to peric...

Methods CMR was performed in 146 patients (85 males, aged 56 ±16 years) with clinical suspicion of acute pericarditis (AP, n=46), pericardial effusion without inflammation (PE, n=47), and constrictive pericarditis (CP, n=53). Final diagnosis was ascertained by a combined evaluation of different CMR sequences. Patients were followed-up for all-cause and cardiac death. Results The final diagnosis...

Background The coronary arteries are embedded in epicardial fat. To improve visualization in coronary MR angiography (CMRA) fat suppression techniques such as Spectral Presaturation with Inversion Recovery (SPIR) are often employed. Recently, water-fat separation using the multiecho 2 point Dixon method has gained increasing interest as it allows decomposing the MR signal into a water and fat i...

BACKGROUND Increased cardiac fat has been identified as a risk factor for coronary artery disease. Metabolic syndrome is associated with increased cardiac fat deposition. Steroids are known to imitate some effects of metabolic syndrome and are frequently used in patients with rheumatic disorders. Primary aim was to evaluate the impact of long-term steroid use on cardiac fat deposition in patien...

A 62-year-old man with no history of cardiac disease was referred because of exertional dyspnea. His body mass index was elevated at 29 kg/m, and a large cutaneous lipoma was present on his abdominal wall. Transthoracic echocardiography was performed and initially reported to demonstrate a moderate-sized global pericardial effusion (Figure 1 and Movies 1 and 2). Consideration was given to peric...