A 42-year-old man was admitted with acute severe abdominal pain to the surgical ward and work up revealed acute pancreatitis (confirmed by CT scan) and severe dyslipidemia with a cholesterol level of 8.4 mmol/L (325 mg/dL) and triglyceride level of 32 mmol/L (2834 mg/dL). Renal function, LFTs and other laboratory parameters were normal. Although he had a family history of dyslipidemia and had been found to have abnormal lipid profile previously, he had not been on any medications. His alcohol consumption was within healthy limits.
Endocrinology referral was made for management of dyslipidemia and he was moved to high dependancy unit for monitoring and a simple treatment. His cholesterol level came down to 4.8 mmol and triglyceride levels came down 8.6 the next day and he was pain-free without the need for narcotic analgesia. He was started on oral fenofibrate. He was discharged on…
