Pericardial Tumor, a Rare Manifestation of Sjogren’s Syndrome Secondary to Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

We are presenting a case of pericardial tumor in an elderly female patient who presented with low-grade fever, purpuric rashes all over the body, grittiness in the eyes, and dry mouth with decreased oral intake, night sweats, weight loss, chest pain, and dyspnea. She was diagnosed with Sjögren’s syndrome secondary to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) with positive anti-nuclear antibody (ANA), anti-double-stranded DNA (anti-ds-DNA), and anti-Sjögren's-syndrome-related antigen A autoantibodies (SS-A/Ro) antibodies. Computerized tomography scan of the chest with contrast showed multiple calcified mediastinal lymph nodes and a well-defined solid cystic lesion adjacent to the left atrial appendage in favor of a pericardial tumor with minimal pericardial effusion. Biopsy could not be done due to the risk of cardiac tamponade and pneumothorax secondary sensitive location of the tumor. The patient was referred to the oncology and cardiothoracic surgery department for an opinion regarding resection of the tumor and further palliative management. This case is unique in a way that the current literature does not associate SLE with pericardial tumor, while our patient had no other primary malignancy or secondary metastasis ruled out on a positron emission tomography (PET) scan.