A middle-aged man with progressive facial swelling and generalized violaceous plaques.

This report describes a patient with AIDS-related angiomatous Kaposi sarcoma (KS) presenting with facial lymphoedema. Angiomatous KS is a rare histological subtype of KS that can mimic benign haemangiomas clinically and histologically. Furthermore, the patient did not have prior history or other clinical clues of HIV infection at the initial presentation, making the diagnosis challenging. Although lymphoedema has not previously been reported in association with angiomatous KS, this case demonstrates that lymphoedema may develop in patients with this histological subtype of KS, reflecting the multistep oncogenic nature of KS. Recognition of this clinical presentation of KS variant is vital as tumour-associated lymphoedema is associated with poorer prognosis and may warrant systemic chemotherapy in addition to highly active antiretroviral therapy.

Abstract from PubMed