title: Acute leukemia presenting as pericardial effusion--a case report.
abstract: We report a patient with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, who presented with pericardial effusion. There was no haematologic evidence of leukemia at the time of presentation. The pericardial effusion resolved with chemotherapy. Although a common finding at autopsy, clinically evident pericardial effusion is rare in leukemia. It is also extremely rare for pericardial effusion to be the presenting feature or to antedate haematologic evidence of leukemia. Physician awareness is important to make a correct diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine All India Institute of Medical Science, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Handa
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bhatia
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Wali
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kochupillai
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mohindra
authors.forename: P S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Arora
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010490:Pericardial Effusion / Q000209:etiology* / Q000628:therapy; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis