A Cardio-Obstetric Breakthrough Beyond Routine Pregnancy Care: Unmasking Hodgkin’s Lymphoma

BACKGROUND: Multidisciplinary care during pregnancy is essential to ensure safe maternal and fetal outcomes, particularly when managing serious conditions such as Hodgkin's lymphoma. CASE SUMMARY: A 24-year-old pregnant woman presented with dyspnea and neck swelling. Echocardiography revealed cardiac tamponade, managed by pericardiocentesis. Histopathology confirmed Hodgkin's lymphoma. Multidisciplinary care and third-trimester ABVD (adriamycin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine) chemotherapy led to clinical recovery and delivery of a healthy newborn. Postpartum positron emission tomography/computed tomography scan demonstrated a significant disease regression. DISCUSSION: Cardiac tamponade as an initial manifestation of Hodgkin's lymphoma is rare. This case underscores the need to evaluate unexplained pericardial effusion in pregnancy for possible malignancy and highlights that early diagnosis, drainage, and timely chemotherapy are key to prevent instability and achieving recovery. TAKE-HOME MESSAGES: Unexplained pericardial effusion in pregnancy should prompt evaluation for underlying malignancy including lymphomas.