The importance of triglycerides in the development of atherosclerosis is currently receiving increasing attention in view of the growing evidence that triglycerides constitute an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease (1). The atherogenicity of hypertriglyceridemia is particularly apparent not only in fully developed type 2 diabetes mellitus, but also in individuals with a complete or incomplete metabolic syndrome. The four prominent symptoms of the latter (hypertriglyceridemia, abdominal obesity, insulin resistance, and hypertension) have even been named “the deadly quartet” (2). The pathological processes linking triglyceride-rich lipoproteins with the appearance and growth of atheromas are complex. Triglyceride-rich lipoproteins themselves may be involved, or their remnant products, or low concentrations of HDL-cholesterol, which are most frequently found in association with hypertriglyceridemia (3). Not only fasting triglycerides have been shown to be associated with atherosclerosis (4)(5)(6), but also postprandial triglycerides, which can reach remarkably high concentrations (4). Glucose is a regularly controlled variable in patients suffering from diabetes mellitus or the metabolic syndrome. Glucose testing is performed not only in doctors’ offices but also by the patients at home, using glucose-specific point-of-care testing devices. In contrast, triglycerides, which similarly to glucose exhibit a considerable variation throughout the day that is related mainly to food intake, could not be monitored in this way because of a lack of corresponding point-of-care testing instrumentation. The development of such a device for rapid point-of-care triglyceride measurement, therefore, appeared advantageous, allowing as it does rapid monitoring of triglycerides by both doctors and patients. Although no cutpoints at which postprandial triglycerides increase the risk of cardiovascular disease are defined at present, information about a patient’s metabolic status with respect to triglycerides throughout the day and use of this information to reduce triglyceride concentrations throughout the day may serve as a further step toward reducing …