Very severe hypertriglyceridemia in a subject with poor glycemic control: a case report with general consideration

Abstract

Hypertriglyceridemia is defined as a value of fasting serum triglyceride over 150 mg/dl. The classification of hypertriglyceridemia according to the Endocrine Society includes mild and moderate hypertriglyceridemia, severe hypertriglyceridemia and very severe hypertriglyceridemia. Mild and moderate hypertriglyceridemia increases the risk for cardiovascular events while severe and very severe hypertriglyceridemia is a risk factor for acute pancreatitis. Conventional pharmacological therapy of hypertriglyceridemia includes fibrates, niacin, statins, ezetimibe, and omega-3 fatty acid. Other triglyceride-lowering therapies are represented by plasmapheresis and lipoprotein lipase gene therapy. The present work refers to a 55-year-old man without a history of family diabetes mellitus (DM), dyslipidemia, premature coronary artery disease, diagnosed with type 2 DM in 2016, from 2018 on insulin treatment; he was hospitalized for endocrine evaluation. The patient had a history of high blood pressure for approximately 15 years, chronic kidney disease, very severe hypertriglyceridemia, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The patient followed treatment with hypoglycemic, hypolipemic, low-salt diet, fibrates, statins, omega-3 fatty acid.

Keywords

• very severe hypertriglyceridemia
• diabetes mellitus
• treatment