A case of mediastinal malignant lymphoma with cardiac tamponade treated effectively with chemotherapy

: A 78-year-old man was admitted to the Nishinomiya Municipal Central Hospital with main symptoms of chest pain and dyspnea. Chest CT revealed a large mediastinal mass shadow, and echocardiography revealed pericardial effusion. Serum LDH was elevated. Therefore, malignant lymphoma was suspected to be the cause of cardiac tamponade. VEPA chemotherapy was commenced. Half way through the course of chemotherapy, serum LDH was decreased, the pericardial effusion had disappeared, and the mediastinal mass was reduced in size. A biopsy specimen of the mediastinal tumor revealed malignant lymphoma of diffuse large cell type, and immunoperoxidase staining of frozen sections demonstrated B cell origin. The pericardial effusion had not increased in size after four months, when the patient developed pneumonia and died. Autopsy revealed pericardial and atrial involvement by tumor. In conclusion, this case is very unusual in that (1) pericardial involvement was suspected on admission; (2) the pericardial effusion disappeared with systemic chemotherapy; and (3) cardiac metastasis was demonstrated at autopsy.