ABSTRACT
In its extreme form, there seems little doubt that treatment of hypertriglyceridaemia is justified by the risk of acute pancreatitis. Even in severe hypertriglyceridaemia, however, the association with coronary heart disease (CHD) is as complex as in the more moderate forms of hypertriglyceridaemia. This chapter will discuss patients with moderate fasting hypertriglyceridaemia of less than 450 mg/dl (5 mmol/l) and those with higher levels separately. There is, of course, no sharp division and a few people with only modestly raised triglycerides have the capacity, under certain circumstances, to develop gross hypertriglyceridaemia leading to acute pancreatitis, whereas others who habitually run serum triglycerides of even 2500 mg/dl (30 mmol/l) or more can live to a ripe old age without complications.
