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CASE REPORT
Non-cutaneous AIDS-associated Kaposi’s sarcoma presenting as recurrent rectal abscesses
  1. Steven Schulberg,
  2. Vanessa Al-Feghali,
  3. Kevin Bain,
  4. Josef Shehebar
  1. Department of Surgery, NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York, USA
  1. Correspondence to Dr Kevin Bain, kevin.bain{at}nyumc.org

Summary

Kaposi’s sarcoma is a fatal disease that typically presents with cutaneous manifestations in immunocompromised individuals. There are a small number of documented cases where patients diagnosed with this disease present without cutaneous lesions. We present a 35-year-old man with recurrent rectal abscesses and fistula-in-ano, which required multiple drainage procedures. Further investigation revealed a diagnosis of HIV-AIDS, and biopsy of a rectal mass confirmed the diagnosis of visceral Kaposi’s sarcoma, despite the absence of cutaneous involvement. Workup revealed hepatic metastasis and a second pulmonary primary malignancy. The patient denied chemotherapy or further intervention and was subsequently lost to follow-up. Prompt diagnosis of Kaposi’s sarcoma and initiation of treatment is vital to decrease disease progression. A high index of suspicion should be present in immunocompromised patients, and clinicians must recognise atypical presentations in order to improve long-term survival.

  • endoscopy
  • hiv / aids
  • oncology
  • radiology

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Footnotes

  • Contributors Conception and design, acquisition of data or analysis and interpretation of data: SS, VA-F and KB. Drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content: all authors. Final approval of the version published: all authors. Agreement to be accountable for the article and to ensure that all questions regarding the accuracy or integrity of the article are investigated and resolved: all authors.

  • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

  • Competing interests None declared.

  • Patient consent Obtained.

  • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.