Kaposi's sarcoma differential diagnosis
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1] Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Farima Kahe M.D. [2] Haytham Allaham, M.D. [3] Amandeep Singh M.D.[4] Huda A. Karman, M.D.

Overview
Overview
Kaposi’s sarcoma must be differentiated from other diseases that cause similar cutaneous, pulmonary, and gastrointestinal involvement, such as bacillary angiomatosis, AIDS-related lymphoma, and seborrheic keratosis.
Differentiating Kaposi’s Sarcoma from other Diseases
Differentiating Kaposi’s Sarcoma from other Diseases
- Kaposi’s sarcoma must be differentiated from other diseases that cause similar cutaneous, pulmonary, and gastrointestinal involvement.[1][2][3]
| Diseases | Etiology | Congenital | Acquired | Demography | Clinical manifestations | Lab findings | Gold standard diagnosis | Associated findings | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Symptoms | Signs | CBC | LFT | ESR/CRP | Histopathology | ||||||||||||||
| Appearance | Fever | Bleeding | BP | Hepatosplenomegaly | Lymphadenopathy | Other | WBC | Hb | Plt | ||||||||||
| Bacillary angiomatosis [4] | β | + | Any age, usually between 20 -50 years | Solitary or multiple red, purple, flesh-colored, or colorless papules | Β± | Β± | Nl | β | β | Nl | Nl | Nl | Nl | Nl |
|
Clinical manifestation | |||
| Arteriovenous malformation [5] | + | β | Any age | Nl | β | + | Nl | β | β | Nl | Nl | Nl | Nl | Nl | NA | Imaging | |||
| Acroangiodermatitis[6] |
|
β | β | Any age, more in males | Purplish-blue to brown papules and plaques | β | β | Nl | β | β |
|
Nl | Nl | Nl | Nl | Nl |
|
Clinical manifesttations | |
| Angiosarcoma [7] | β | β | Adults, more in males | Enlarging bruise, a blue-black nodule, or an unhealed ulceration | β | β | Nl | β | β | β | Nl | β | β | Nl | Nl |
|
Biopsy | NA | |
| Diseases | Etiology | Congenital | Acquired | Demography | Appearance | Fever | Bleeding | BP | Hepatosplenomegaly | Lymphadenopathy | Other | WBC | Hb | Plt | LFT | ESR/CRP | Histopathology | Gold standard diagnosis | Associated findings |
| Masson’s hemangioma [8] | β | β | Rare |
|
β | β | Nl | β | β | β | Nl | Nl | Nl | Nl | Nl |
|
Biopsy | ||
| Seborrheic keratosis [9] |
|
+ | β | Any age |
|
β | β | Nl | β | β | β | Nl | Nl | Nl | Nl | Nl |
|
Clinical manifestations |
|
| Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) [10] | β | β | More common in female, typically in the 20 to 30 years |
|
Β± | β | β | Β± | Β± | β | β | β | Nl | Nl |
|
Clinical manifestations | |||
| Pyogenic granuloma [11] | + | + | Any age, usually in 20-30 years |
|
β | + | Nl | β | β | β | Nl | Nl | Nl | Nl | Nl |
|
Clinical manifestation | NA | |
| Benign lymphangioendothelioma [12] | β | + | Any ages, median age is 50 years | β | β | Nl | β | β | β | Nl | Nl | Nl | Nl | Nl |
|
Biopsy | NA | ||
| Cavernous hemangioma [13] | β | β | Usually in third to fifth decades of life. |
|
β | β | Nl | β | β | β | Nl | Nl | Nl | Nl | Nl |
|
Clinical manidestation |
| |
| Diseases | Etiology | Congenital | Acquired | Demography | Appearance | Fever | Bleeding | BP | Hepatosplenomegaly | Lymphadenopathy | Other | WBC | Hb | Plt | LFT | ESR/CRP | Histopathology | Gold standard diagnosis | Associated findings |
References
References
- β Kaposi’s Sarcoma. Radiopaedia (2015) http://radiopaedia.org/articles/kaposi-sarcoma Accessed on January, 19 2016
- β Libre Pathology. Kaposi’s sarcoma (2015) http://librepathology.org/wiki/index.php/File:Kaposi_sarcoma_low_intermed_mag.jpg Accessed on January, 19 2016
- β Kaposi’s Sarcoma. PathologyOutlines (2015) http://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/skintumornonmelanocytickaposisarcoma.html Accessed on January, 19 2015
- β Tappero JW, Perkins BA, Wenger JD, Berger TG (July 1995). “Cutaneous manifestations of opportunistic infections in patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus”. Clin. Microbiol. Rev. 8 (3): 440β50. PMCΒ 174635. PMIDΒ 7553576.
- β Whitehead KJ, Smith MC, Li DY (February 2013). “Arteriovenous malformations and other vascular malformation syndromes”. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med. 3 (2): a006635. doi:10.1101/cshperspect.a006635. PMCΒ 3552339. PMIDΒ 23125071.
- β LugoviΔ L, PusiΔ J, Situm M, Buljan M, Bulat V, SebetiΔ K, Soldo-BeliΔ A (2007). “Acroangiodermatitis (pseudo-Kaposi sarcoma): three case reports”. Acta Dermatovenerol Croat. 15 (3): 152β7. PMIDΒ 17868541.
- β Barttelbort SW, Stahl R, Ariyan S (July 1989). “Cutaneous angiosarcoma of the face and scalp”. Plast. Reconstr. Surg. 84 (1): 55β9. PMIDΒ 2734404.
- β Park KK, Won YS, Yang JY, Choi CS, Han KY (July 2012). “Intravascular Papillary Endothelial Hyperplasia (Masson tumor) of the SkullΒ : Case Report and Literature Review”. J Korean Neurosurg Soc. 52 (1): 52β4. doi:10.3340/jkns.2012.52.1.52. PMCΒ 3440504. PMIDΒ 22993679.
- β Noiles K, Vender R (2008). “Are all seborrheic keratoses benign? Review of the typical lesion and its variants”. J Cutan Med Surg. 12 (5): 203β10. doi:10.2310/7750.2008.07096. PMIDΒ 18845088.
- β Uva L, Miguel D, Pinheiro C, Freitas JP, Marques Gomes M, Filipe P (2012). “Cutaneous manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus”. Autoimmune Dis. 2012: 834291. doi:10.1155/2012/834291. PMCΒ 3410306. PMIDΒ 22888407.
- β Kamal R, Dahiya P, Puri A (January 2012). “Oral pyogenic granuloma: Various concepts of etiopathogenesis”. J Oral Maxillofac Pathol. 16 (1): 79β82. doi:10.4103/0973-029X.92978. PMCΒ 3303528. PMIDΒ 22434943.
- β Guillou L, Fletcher CD (August 2000). “Benign lymphangioendothelioma (acquired progressive lymphangioma): a lesion not to be confused with well-differentiated angiosarcoma and patch stage Kaposi’s sarcoma: clinicopathologic analysis of a series”. Am. J. Surg. Pathol. 24 (8): 1047β57. PMIDΒ 10935645.
- β Goldberg RE, Pheasant TR, Shields JA (December 1979). “Cavernous hemangioma of the retina. A four-generation pedigree with neurocutaneous manifestations and an example of bilateral retinal involvement”. Arch. Ophthalmol. 97 (12): 2321β4. PMIDΒ 229814.
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