A clinical syndrome characteristic of primary Type IV‐V hyperlipoproteinaemia

SUMMARY Ten patients with a recognizable clinical syndrome are described. All were men who were overweight and presented with eruptive xanthomata. All were found to have turbid serum with increased prebetalipoprotein. The post-heparin lipolytic activity was low in the eight patients in which it was measured. Five were diabetic and five had uric acid levels above 7 mg/100 ml. The presence of chylomicrons was variable and the electrophoretic pattern showed Type IV hyperlipoproteinaemia in some patients and Type V in others. Some patients, while consuming a ‘normal Western diet’, produced both patterns at different times.