['Insulin resistance, an independent risk-factor for cardiovascular disease, precedes type 2 diabetes and is associated with ectopic lipid accumulation in skeletal muscle and liver. Recent evidence indicates that cardiac steatosis plays a central role in the development of diabetic cardiomyopathy. However, it is not known whether insulin resistance as such in the absence of type 2 diabetes is associated with heart steatosis and/or impaired function. We therefore assessed myocardial steatosis and myocardial function in a sample of women with normal insulin sensitivity, insulin resistance, impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and type 2 diabetes.', 'Magnetic resonance imaging and localised spectroscopy were used to measure left ventricular dynamic variables and myocardial lipid accumulation in interventricular septum of non-diabetic, age- and BMI-matched insulin-sensitive (n\u2009=\u200911, 47\u2009±\u20096 years, BMI 25\u2009±\u20092 kg/m(2); clamp-like index [CLIX]\u2009=\u20099.7\u2009±\u20090.7) and insulin-resistant (n\u2009=\u200910, 48\u2009±\u20095 years, 27\u2009±\u20094 kg/m(2); CLIX\u2009=\u20094.5\u2009±\u20090.4) women with normal glucose tolerance as well as of women with IGT (n\u2009=\u20096, 45\u2009±\u20095 years, 28\u2009±\u20096 kg/m(2); CLIX\u2009=\u20093.6\u2009±\u20091.1) and type 2 diabetes (n\u2009=\u20097, 52\u2009±\u200910 years, 27\u2009±\u20093 kg/m(2)).', 'Myocardial lipid content was increased in type 2 diabetic women only (insulin-sensitive 0.4\u2009±\u20090.2% [means ± SD]; insulin-resistant 0.4\u2009±\u20090.1%; IGT 0.5\u2009±\u20090.2%; type 2 diabetes 0.7\u2009±\u20090.3%; p\u2009<\u20090.05). In insulin-resistant and type 2 diabetic women, stroke volume was lower (-15% and -27%, respectively, vs insulin-sensitive) and heart rate was higher (11% and 14%, respectively, vs insulin-sensitive, p\u2009<\u20090.05). No other differences in systolic and diastolic function were observed between study groups.'] Is insulin resistance associated with myocardial steatosis in women?