Non Hodgkin's lymphoma presenting with chest pain.
BACKGROUND
Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma is a heterogeneous group of lymphoproliferative malignancies which can have differing patterns of behavior and clinical presentation. Unlike Hodgkin's disease, Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma is much less predictable and has a far greater predilection for disseminating to extranodal sites.


METHODS
We offer a case of a 50 year old Caucasian male who presented with chest pain, and was ultimately diagnosed with follicular lymphoma by means of liver biopsy, in conjunction with immunohistochemistry. This malignancy grew at a rapid rate and over came our patient in a short period of time. The combination of a large tumor burden and cardiac infiltration made resuscitation extremely difficult when it became necessary, and this also made a positive outcome unlikely.


CONCLUSIONS
It is rare for an immunocompetent patient to present with cardiac lymphoma without any previous signs and symptoms. Due to the rarity and the vague clinical presentation there must be a high degree of suspicion in order to diagnose cardiac lymphoma. As evidenced by this case time is of the essence to increase the likelyhood of survival in these patients.
Jayawardena
Suriya
S
Department of Medicine, Coney Island Hospital, Brooklyn, NY 11235, USA.
Eisdorfer
Jacob
J
Volozhanina
Elena
E
Zarkaria
Muhammad
M
D002637:Chest Pain / Q000150:complications*; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000150:complications*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009206:Myocardium / Q000473:pathology; D011859:Radiography