Cardiac Tamponade as a Recurrence of Angioimmunoblastic T-Cell Lymphoma with the Detection of a p.Gly17Val RHOA Mutation in the Pericardial Effusion

Angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AITL) is an intractable type of T-cell lymphoma. We and others have identified that the p.Gly17Val RHOA mutation is specifically identified in AITL. We herein report a patient whose condition deteriorated, resulting from massive pericardial effusion one month after undergoing autologous transplantation for AITL. He was diagnosed with cardiac tamponade caused by AITL recurrence in the presence of the p.Gly17Val RHOA mutation as well as T-lineage cells with an aberrant immunephenotype in the pericardial effusion. This case suggests that a precision medicine approach by detecting the presence of a p.Gly17Val RHOA mutation is useful for the management of AITL.

Automated summary

We report a case of AITL patient who experienced deterioration of the condition due to massive pericardial effusion one month after autologous transplantation. The patient was diagnosed with cardiac tamponade caused by AITL recurrence, identified by the presence of p.Gly17Val RHOA mutation and T-lineage cells with abnormal immunephenotype in the pericardial effusion. This case suggests that precision medicine approach by detecting the p.Gly17Val RHOA mutation is useful for AITL management.