Left ventricular diastolic filling patterns in competitive triathletes with and without myocardial fibrosis by cardiac magnetic resonance time-volume analysis.

Purpose: To investigate the influence of myocardial fibrosis on left ventricular (LV) diastolic filling patterns in triathletes compared to sedentary controls by cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging.

Method: 101 male triathletes (43 ± 11 years) and 28 controls (41 ± 10 years) were recruited and underwent 1.5 T CMR including cine SSFP series, late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) imaging and T1 mapping.