The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency of hypertriglyceridemia in alcoholic patients with and without cirrhosis of the liver. It had been observed by others that subjects with endogenous familial hypertriglyceridemia (type IV hyperlipoproteinemia) showed an exaggerated lipidemic response to ingestion of alcohol, and, therefore, might be predisposed to hepatic cirrhosis. Comparison of 40 alcoholic cirrhotics with 40 noncirrhotic alcoholic patients showed no increased incidence of hypertriglyceridemia in either group. The findings suggest that the frequency of cirrhosis in the general population is not materially affected by subjects with this metabolic defect.