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AIM To compare the amount of epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) or non-ischaemic dilated cardiomyopathy (NIDCM) with that in patients with negative cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR). MATERIALS AND METHODS One hundred and fifty patients (median age 57 years, interquartile range [IQR] 46–66 years) who underwent CMR were evaluated retrospectively: 50 with CAD, 50 with NIDCM, and 50 with negative CMR. For each patient, the EAT mass index (EATMI) to body surface area, end-diastolic volume index (EDVI), end-systolic volume index (ESVI), stroke volume (SV), ejection fraction (EF) for both ventricles, and left ventricle (LV) mass index were estimated. Intra and inter-reader reproducibility was tested in a random subset of 30 patients, 10 for each group. Mann–Whitney U test, Kruskal–Wallis test, Spearman's correlation, and Bland–Altman statistics were used. RESULTS The EATMI in CAD patients (median 15.7 g/m2, IQR 8.3–25.7) or in NIDCM patients (15.9 g/m2, 11.5–18.1) was significantly higher than that in negative CMR patients (9.1 g/m2, 6–12; p CONCLUSION Patients with NIDCM or CAD exhibited an increased EATMI in comparison to negative CMR patients. CMR can be used to estimate EAT with good reproducibility.