Cardiac tamponade: an unusual clinical presentation

Pericardial effusion with cardiac tamponade is an unusual presentation of lymphoma, although cardiac involvement is often a late finding in widespread malignancy. Clinical identification can be difficult ante-mortem. New cardiac symptoms or classic findings of cardiac tamponade should prompt aggressive investigation. We present a case of B-cell lymphoma that initially presented as pericardial effusion with tamponade and discuss the characteristic physical findings and radiographic data that assist in diagnosis.