CD30 positive (Ki-1) large cell lymphoma presenting with pericardial constriction

It is very uncommon for the initial presentation of malignant lymphoma to be one of cardiac involvement and for such involvement to precipitate cardiac dysfunction attributable to constriction. We describe a CD30 positive (Ki-1) anaplastic large cell lymphoma, T-cell type, in a 29-year-old man whose presentation was a short history of profound hemodynamic impairment and whose clinical course was rapidly fatal. This patient's constrictive physiology was attributable to diffuse infiltration of the pericardium and epicardium by the Ki-1 lymphoma. Our description of this patient is noteworthy, given that the clinical and pathologic features of Ki-1 lymphomas are still being characterized.