Clinical and endoscopic findings of patients with cutaneous Kaposi sarcoma and gastrointestinal involvement. Experience in a single center of Lima-Peru in the last 3 years

Abstract

Introduction: Kaposi sarcoma is a low-grade angioproliferative neoplasm strongly associated with infection by herpes virus type 8 (HHV-8). Gastrointestinal (GI) involvement is an infrequent finding, whose clinical and endoscopic characteristics are poorly defined in the literature. Objective: The aim of our study was to describe the clinical and endoscopic findings of patients with gastrointestinal Kaposi Sarcoma. Materials and methods: We reviewed all clinical histories, endoscopic and anatomopathologic reports of all patients with cutaneous Kaposi sarcoma (CKS) who came to Cayetano Heredia Gastroenterology Service during the period between August 2015 to October 2018. We included all patients with CKS that had gastrointestinal involvement confirmed with biopsy. Results: We found 50 patients with cutaneous Kaposi sarcoma. Thirteen patients had gastrointestinal Kaposi sarcoma (26%). 53.8% (7/13 cases) were asymptomatic. 92.3% (12/13 cases) had HIV infection. Nine of the twelve HIV+ patients had CD4 count below 200 cells/μl. When Kaposi affects GI tract, the mayority have multiple GI organs affected. Stomach and colon are the most common sites affected. Conclusion: Gastrointestinal involvement was presented in 26% of our patients with cutaneos Kaposi sarcoma, a half of them had no GI symptoms. The majority of cases were young male and had HIV in AIDS stage. The mortality in our series was 15.3% at 6 months of follow-up.