CLINICAL AND PATHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PATIENTS WITH KAPOSI SARCOMA: A SINGLE CENTER STUDY

AIM: Kaposi sarcoma (KS) is a vascular proliferative disease associated with human herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8). The studies about the epidemiology of KS in Turkey are limited. We aimed to evaluate the clinical, pathological, and immunohistochemical features a total of 78 KS patients, presenting them along with the available information in the literature.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated the clinical and histopathological characteristics of a total of 78 patients with KS.

RESULTS: The age of the patients ranged from 46 to 93 years and the mean age was 74.06 years. Of the patients, 59 were males and 19 were females. The lesions were most commonly found on the lower extremities. In the study patients, KS was found both at earlier stages with patches or plaques in 54 of the patients and at the nodular stage in 24 patients. A punch biopsy or an excisional biopsy was performed in 23 and 55 patients, respectively. In the excisional biopsies, the smallest tumor diameter was 0.35 cm and the largest one was 2.8 cm with a mean diameter of 0.98 cm.

DISCUSSION: This retrospective study demonstrated that; in Konya, KS developed in older people and it was most commonly seen in males. It was observed that the demographic features and histopathological types of KS in the study patients were similar to the reports in the literature.