Point-of-Care Ultrasound Assists in Rapid Diagnosis of T-cell Lymphoblastic Lymphoma in a Young Boy

Ceyda H Sablak; Rebecca M Dudley; Alexander Youngdahl; Kevin R Roth

doi:10.7759/cureus.14978

Point-of-Care Ultrasound Assists in Rapid Diagnosis of T-cell Lymphoblastic Lymphoma in a Young Boy

Cureus. 2021 May 12;13(5):e14978. doi: 10.7759/cureus.14978.

Authors

Ceyda H Sablak¹, Rebecca M Dudley¹, Alexander Youngdahl¹, Kevin R Roth¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Emergency and Hospital Medicine, University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine/Lehigh Valley Health Network Campus, Allentown, USA.

Abstract

T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma (T-cell LBL) is an uncommon diagnosis for acute dyspnea in pediatric emergencies. This case details a 13-year-old boy presenting to the ED with dyspnea, who was diagnosed with T-cell LBL. It was a unique presentation in which there was no obvious mediastinal mass on the examination or primary imaging. As a safe and cost-effective modality for a patient that was too unstable to transfer to the radiology department for computed tomography, point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) was useful in the patient's rapid assessment for suspected pericardial and pleural effusion. This case highlights the advantage of early utilization of POCUS for pediatric patients with dyspnea.

Keywords: lymphoma; point-of-care; ultrasound.

Publication types

Case Reports