Objectives and methods: DETECT is a cross-sectional study of 55,518 unselected consecutive patients in 3188 representative primary care offices in Germany. In a random subset of 7519 patients, an extensive standardized laboratory program was undertaken. The study investigated the prevalence of cardiovascular disease, known risk factors (such as diabetes, hypertension and dyslipidemia and their co-morbid manifestation), as well as treatment patterns. The present analysis of the DETECT laboratory dataset focused on the prevalence and treatment of dyslipidemia in primary medical care in Germany. Coronary artery disease (CAD), risk categories and LDL-C target achievement rates were determined in the subset of 6815 patients according to the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) ATP III Guidelines. Results: Of all patients, 54.3% had dyslipidemia. Only 54.4% of the NCEP-classified dyslipidemic patients were diagnosed as ‘dyslipidemic’ by their physicians. Only 27% of all dyslipidemic patients (and 40.7% of the recognized dyslipidemic patients) were treated with lipid-lowering medications, and 11.1% of all dyslipidemic patients (41.4% of the patients treated with lipid-lowering drugs) achieved their LDL-C treatment goals. In conclusion, 80.3% of patients in the sample with dyslipidemia went undiagnosed, un-treated or under-treated.