Current guidelines on the management of blood cholesterol and dyslipidemia recommend either a fasting or non-fasting lipid profile for estimating arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk (ASCVD), and documenting baseline LDL-C prior to therapy. However, fasting lipid panels are still recommended as a follow up for adult patients in whom an initial non-fasting lipid profile reveals a triglyceride level of 400 mg/dL or greater, and are also reasonable as an initial evaluation for patients with a family history of premature ASCVD or genetic hyperlipidemia. For non-fasting panels, it may be prudent to counsel patients to avoid ingesting an extremely high-fat meal in the preceding 8 hours prior to testing.

All reports (fasting and non-fasting) will retain National Lipid Association classifications for cholesterol and triglyceride levels. However, results should be considered in context with other risk factors.