Histological variants of cutaneous Kaposi sarcoma

Abstract

This review provides a comprehensive overview of the broad clinicopathologic spectrum of cutaneous Kaposi sarcoma (KS) lesions. Variants discussed include: usual KS lesions associated with disease progression (i.e. patch, plaque and nodular stage); morphologic subtypes alluded to in the older literature such as anaplastic and telangiectatic KS, as well as several lymphedematous variants; and numerous recently described variants including hyperkeratotic, keloidal, micronodular, pyogenic granuloma-like, ecchymotic, and intravascular KS. Involuting lesions as a result of treatment related regression are also presented.

Kaposi Sarcoma

“…18,19 Their clinical significance remains largely unknown. The spectrum of KS has been expanded to include pre-KS lesions, also referred to as an ''in situ'' form of KS.…”

Microscopic diversity in oral Kaposi sarcoma

“…It is a rare cutaneous form, accounting for less than 5% of the variants thus far documented. 24 The profound immune suppression that accompanies epidemic KS predisposes patients to development of disseminated systemic opportunistic infections and other neoplasms. 28 The occurrence of co-existent infections, dermatoses and neoplasms has been described in cutaneous KS and to a lesser extent in OKS.…”

Isolated classic Kaposi Sarcoma in an old female patient

“…In a study a relatively high discordance rate was found between the clinical and the biopsy-proven diagnosis of KS [10] . Failure to identify a given lesion as KS could lead to delayed diagnosis or inappropriate management [11] .…”

“…Clinically, virtually all pigmented skin lesions are part of the differential diagnosis of KS and nowadays there has been an increasing in number of reported clinical and/or histologic variants of KS [10,11] . In a study a relatively high discordance rate was found between the clinical and the biopsy-proven diagnosis of KS [10] .…”