We investigated cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors in 1501 Greeks (613 men and 888 women, aged 40-65 years) referred to outpatients with metabolic syndrome (MetS) and without diabetes mellitus or CVD. The 10-year risk of fatal CVD events was calculated using European Society of Cardiology Systematic Coronary Risk Estimation (ESC SCORE), Hellenic-SCORE, and Framingham equations. Raised blood pressure (BP) and hypertriglyceridemia were more common in men (89.6% vs 84.2% and 86.8% vs 74.2%, respectively; P < .001). Low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and abdominal obesity were more common in women (58.2% vs 66.2% and 85.8% vs 97.1%, respectively; P < .001). The 10-year risk of fatal CVD events using HellenicSCORE was higher in men (6.3% +/- 4.3% vs 2.7% +/- 2.1%; P < .001). European Society of Cardiology Systematic Coronary Risk Estimation and Framingham yielded similar results. The risk equations gave similar assessments in a European Mediterranean population except for HellenicSCORE that calculated more MetS women requiring risk modification. This might justify local risk engine evaluation in event-based studies. (Clinical-Trials.gov ID: NCT00416741).