Sudden death as the initial manifestation of diffuse pleural mesothelioma.

Malignant mesotheliomas are generally considered pathognomonic of asbestos exposure. The prognosis of mesothelioma varies with clinical staging of the disease. The overall survival of patients from the time of diagnosis is six to 16 months. Although patients with malignant mesotheliomas often have nonspecific symptoms and signs, occult diffuse pleural mesothelioma is uncommon, and one that occurs in a patient with no evidence of asbestos exposure must be exceedingly rare. Sudden death as the initial manifestation of pleural mesothelioma, to our knowledge, has not been previously reported in the literature. One such unusual case is documented here.