Ventricular tachycardia in a patient with the "Chinese restaurant syndrome".

A 36-year-old man developed severe weakness, palpitation, and diaphoresis 30 minutes after eating wonton soup. On admission to the hospital he was found to have ventricular tachycardia. He was given lidocaine intravenously and the rhythm converted to normal with the three minutes. It was concluded that monosodium L-glutamate might produce potentially serious arrhythmias in susceptible persons.