Peripheral lymphadenopathy as the initial manifestation of pericardial mesothelioma: a case report.

Lymphadenopathy is an unusual initial presentation of malignant mesothelioma. We describe a case of extrathoracic lymphadenopathy as the only initial manifestation of primary pericardial malignant mesothelioma. The diagnosis of metastatic malignant mesothelioma was made by excisional biopsy of the supraclavicular lymph node and later confirmed by cytologic examination of pericardial fluid. The clinical and pathological features of this case, including positron-emission tomography (PET), immunohistochemistry, and electron microscopy, are discussed.