Intermittent Hypothermia in Hodgkin's Lymphoma: A Potential Indicator for Urgent Chemotherapy Initiation

Hypothermia is defined as a body temperature of less than 35°C and has a broad differential diagnosis, including metabolic and infectious causes, as well as malignancy. In this case, we present a patient with Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) who developed hypothermia leading to clinical instability requiring admission to an intensive care unit. After ruling out all other causes of hypothermia, we reached the conclusion that HL could be a culprit. This prompted us for urgent inpatient chemotherapy induction, eventually leading to resolution of her temperature instability, which confirmed our hypothesis. We believe our case adds to the small body of literature documenting hypothermia in patients with HL and suggests that HL should be considered on the differential for a patient presenting with hypothermia. Additionally, our case suggests that the presence of hypothermia, causing clinical instability in a patient with HL, may indicate the need for more urgent treatment of HL.