“Ping‑pong gaze” secondary to monoamine oxidase inhibitor overdose
Amy Attaway1★, Laila Sroujieh2, Tracey L. Mersfelder3, Christopher Butler4, Daniel Ouellette4★ Corresponding author
- 1Department of Pulmonary Critical Care, University Hospitals, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
- 2Department of Pulmonary Critical Care, MetroHealth Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio, University Hospitals, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
- 3Department of Pharmacy, Ferris State University, Borgess Hospital, Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA.
- 4Pulmonary Critical Care, Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, USA.
CORRESPONDENCE
Amy Attaway
Department of Pulmonary Critical Care, University Hospitals, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
Received: 23-01-2015; Revised: 14-02-2015; Accepted: 12-06-2015.
Volume 7, Issue 1 · pp. 34–37 · PUBLISHED 2016 · DOI: 10.4103/0976-500X.179360
ABSTRACT
An infrequent manifestation of monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI) toxicity is “ping-pong gaze” (PPG). We describe the case of a 26-year-old female who was found unresponsive after taking 40 tablets of phenelzine. On presentation to the hospital, her eyes were moving in characteristic “ping pong” fashion. After 6 hours her gaze terminated. The following day her neurologic exam was benign and she had no long-term sequelae. While the etiology of PPG is unknown, it is most often seen with irreversible structural brain damage. However, a detailed literature review revealed that previous cases of MAOI toxicity where the patient survived have all had complete neurologic recovery.
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Attaway, A., Sroujieh, L., Mersfelder, T. L., Butler, C., & Ouellette, D. (2016). “Ping‑pong gaze” secondary to monoamine oxidase inhibitor overdose. Journal of Pharmacology and Pharmacotherapeutics, 7(1), 34–37. https://doi.org/10.4103/0976-500X.179360