Syncope after eating.

To the Editor: A 62-year-old physician from Moscow was admitted to the emergency department of the University Hospital in Vienna because of fainting after eating at a medical-convention banquet. In the ambulance on the way to the hospital, atrial fibrillation with a rapid rate was noted, and a physician administered 5 mg of verapamil intravenously. The physical examination and electrocardiogram in the emergency room showed a hemodynamically stable patient with sinus tachycardia. The chest film showed almost complete opacification of the right hemithorax, with normal findings in the left lung (Figure 1). The mottled appearance of the opacification was atypical . . .