Kaposi Sarcoma in the External Ear

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Acta Otorrinolaringol Esp. 2013;64(6):448
www.elsevier.es/otorrino
IMAGES IN OTORHINOLARYNGOLOGY
Kaposi Sarcoma in the External Ear夽
Sarcoma de Kaposi de pabellón auricular
Marta Izquierdo Cuenca,∗ Magdalena Pérez Ortín, José M. Gómez Martín-Zarco
Servicio de Otorrinolaringología, Hospital Infanta Leonor, Madrid, Spain
We report here the case of an 81-year-old male with a classical Kaposi sarcoma (KS). He presented with 2 lesions in the
right outer ear, in the form of nodules located on the antitragus and at the entrance to the EAC (Fig. 1). The patient
reported a prior history of another KS in the forehead region.
He was confirmed to be HIV negative and presented an adequate level of immunity.
A biopsy was taken of the antitragus lesion by the Dermatology Department, confirming the diagnosis, as well as
a positive result for HHV-8. Both lesions show spontaneous
involution, as seen in Fig. 2, so no resection was required.
One year on, he continues relapse-free, but has presented another KS on the ankle, which once more presented
total involution following biopsy.
Kaposi sarcomas are malignant, multifocal tumours
occurring in vascular endothelial cells. They are not true
sarcomas and present as brownish-red maculae, papulae,
tuberous lesions, plaques or tumours.
It has recently been discovered that the aetiological
agent for all kinds of KS is the human herpes virus 8 (HHV-8).
They also share the same histological pattern.
Classic KS affects elderly patients from the Mediterranean region. There are other clinical forms of KS: that
associated with HIV (the most frequent tumour in these
patients), endemic African KS and that associated with
immunosuppression.
KS is infrequent in the ENT area, particularly in the outer
ear, so this case is a good reminder of this infrequent occurrence for ENT specialists, particularly among HIV-negative
patients.
Figure 1
夽 Please cite this article as: Izquierdo Cuenca M, Pérez Ortín M,
Gómez Martín-Zarco JM. Sarcoma de Kaposi de pabellón auricular.
Acta Otorrinolaringol Esp. 2013;64;448.
∗ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: martaizq@yahoo.es (M. Izquierdo Cuenca).
2173-5735/$ – see front matter © 2012 Elsevier España, S.L. All rights reserved.
Figure 2