Fig. 1

Differential diagnosis of hypertriglyceridemias. Differential diagnosis of elevated triglyceride levels and separation of monogenic and polygenic forms can be challenging in the everyday clinical practice. Secondary forms should be excluded, then characteristics of the monogenic form have to be assessed including childhood onset, resistance to therapy, and severe hypertriglyceridemia exceeding 10 mmol/l. Only a small portion of patients with hypertriglyceridemia present chylomicronemia, and, from these, FCS is a rarity. It should also be noted, that genetic and environmental factors may modify the phenotype and the clinical features of any form