Cardiac involvement with lymphoma/leukemia: a report of three autopsy cases.

The clinicopathological findings in two patients with ATL and one patient with promyelocytic Leukemia affecting the heart are described. All three cases tested positive for HTLV-I while one of the ATL cases was also positive for HIV. Cardiac infiltrate in the ATL cases varied from microscopic focii in one case to macroscopic infiltration mimicking myocardial infarction in the other case. There were microabscesses in the myocardium in the case afflicted with promyelocytic Leukemia. All three cases had extensive malignant disease with multiple organ infiltration. There was no ante-mortem manifestation of cardiac involvement in any case. The cardiac dimensions were all within the normal range. The possible pathophysiology of cardiac involvement with Lymphoma/Leukemia is discussed.