Key result
Paraneoplastic eosinophilic myocarditis in Hodgkin's lymphoma is associated with fatal progressive HF despite supportive care.
Why the study?
Eosinophilic myocarditis is a rare infiltrative cardiomyopathy with challenging diagnosis, and the effectiveness of PET/CT in follow-up remains underexplored.
Case Report (n=1)
No
This case highlights the diagnostic challenges of eosinophilic myocarditis as a paraneoplastic syndrome in Hodgkin's lymphoma and demonstrates the potential utility of sequential PET-CT imaging for early detection and monitoring.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Warrants inclusion in the differential for heart failure in lymphoma; leaves open frequency, causality, and management.
Introduction Eosinophilic myocarditis is a rare and aggressive form of infiltrative cardiomyopathy associated with significant morbidity and mortality, especially when diagnosis is delayed. Symptoms are often vague and overlap with other cardiac conditions, making recognition challenging. Positron emission tomography combined with computed tomography has become more relevant as a supplementary diagnostic tool, although its effectiveness in follow-up remains underexplored. This report discusses a likely paraneoplastic case in classical Hodgkin’s lymphoma, emphasizing that metabolic cardiac activity on serial imaging closely mirrored clinical progression. Case Presentation A 75-year-old woman with classical Hodgkin’s lymphoma initially responded well to chemotherapy and maintained stability for over eighteen months. She later developed progressive heart failure with restrictive physiology, biventricular involvement, severe pulmonary hypertension, and an apical intraventricular thrombus. Laboratory tests indicated intermittent eosinophilia and varying inflammatory markers. Multimodal imaging revealed diffuse myocardial edema and extensive endocardial fibrosis, indicating eosinophilic involvement. Across five oncological scans, myocardial metabolic activity increased alongside the patient's deterioration. Despite thorough investigations, including biopsies and ruling out infectious, autoimmune, infiltrative, and coronary causes, histological confirmation remained elusive. Given her advanced cardiac condition, comorbidities, and complications from treatment, immunosuppression and invasive interventions were not viable options, and the patient continued to decline. Conclusion This case illustrates the diagnostic challenges of eosinophilic myocarditis in unusual paraneoplastic contexts and underscores the value of multimodal imaging and interdisciplinary collaboration. The metabolic changes observed across sequential scans support this approach for early detection and follow-up, though additional validation is required.
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Ibarz et al. (2026) conducted a case report in 75-year-old woman with classical Hodgkin's lymphoma (stage IIB) who developed eosinophilic myocarditis as a paraneoplastic syndrome with heart failure and restrictive cardiomyopathy (n=1). Eosinophilic myocarditis developed as a paraneoplastic syndrome in a 75-year-old woman with classical Hodgkin's lymphoma and was associated with progressive heart failure leading to death 10 months after diagnosis despite best supportive care.
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