Unconsciousness after a glass of whiskey-cola

BACKGROUND: Alcohol intolerance is a rare syndrome that usually involves pa in, pruritus, or vasomotor phenomena consecutive to moderate alcohol intake . This syndrome may unmask various malignancies especially Hodgkin's diseas e or non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and carcinoma of the cervix. CASE REPORT: A patient who became unconscious after drinking a glass of whi skey-cola was explored for alcohol intolerance. High-level hypereosinophili a was discovered. The diagnosis of idiopathic hypereosinophilia was retaine d after extensive evaluation. DISCUSSION: Idiopathic hypereosinophilia may be a premalignancy expression of a lymphoproliferative disorder. In our patient, who also had alcohol int olerance known to be associated with rarer diagnosis of malignancy, lymphoc yte phenotype studies revealed an abnormal population. However, rearrangeme nt studies of T-cell and B-cell receptors, as well as bone marrow cytology and histology did not enable identification of a lymphoproliferative disord er. This patient will require close follow-up due to the risk of developing a lymphoproliferative disorder.