title: Cardiac tamponade due to primary pericardial lymphoma in a patient with AIDS.
abstract: Cardiac tamponade due to lymphomatous involvement of the heart is a dramatic and unusual complication. Because of their nonspecific clinical presentation, these tumors are seldom diagnosed antemortem. We report the case of a patient with AIDS who presented with signs and symptoms of cardiac tamponade. Emergency pericardiocentesis followed by staging studies revealed large cell B-lymphocyte lymphoma confined to the pericardial space. With combination chemotherapy, a durable complete response was obtained. This case illustrates the potential benefit of aggressive treatment of extranodal non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in a patient with AIDS. The case is of particular interest because of the unusual development of isolated pericardial involvement as the sentinel sign of lymphoma.
authors.affiliation: Section of Hematology and Oncology, University of Washington, Seattle.
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Aboulafia
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bush
authors.forename: V J
authors.initials: VJ
authors.lastname: Picozzi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002305:Cardiac Tamponade / Q000209:etiology*; D006338:Heart Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy; D006801:Humans; D016483:Lymphoma, AIDS-Related / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy; D016400:Lymphoma, Large-Cell, Immunoblastic / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy; D008297:Male; D010496:Pericardium