Kaposi's Sarcoma of the Head and Neck in the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome

Abstract

Since 1981 a new syndrome of acquired immune deficiency (AIDS) has been recognized. Male homosexuals, male and female intravenous drug abusers, and recipients of blood products (i.e., hemophiliacs) appear to be the populations at risk. The syndrome has been manifested by community-acquired opportunistic infections and/or Kaposi's sarcoma (KS). Otolaryngologic manifestations of AIDS are not infrequent. Thirteen AIDS patients at the National Institutes of Health with KS of the head and neck region are presented. All 13 patients were homosexual or bisexual males. Nine initially presented with KS, five with KS of the head or neck. As a group the patients demonstrated lesions involving the oropharyngeal, tracheobronchial, and gastrointestinal regions. Their clinical course and complications are presented in detail. The mortality rate in this subgroup of AIDS patients is extraordinarily high (62%), with an average longevity of 11 months following initial diagnosis.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

1. Gottlieb

Schroff

Schanker

Weisman

Fan

Wolf

Saxen

: Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia and mucosal candidiasis in previously healthy homosexual men. N Engl J Med 305: 1425–1430, 1981.

2. Masur

Michelis

Greene

Onorato

Vande Stouwe

Holzman

Wormser

Brettman

Lange

Murray

Cunningham Rundles

: An outbreak of community acquired Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia. N Engl J Med 305: 1431–1438, 1981.

3. Friedman Kien

Laubenstein

Rubinstein

Buimovici Klein

Marmor

Stahl

Spigland

Kim

Zolla Pazner

: Disseminated Kaposi's sarcoma in homosexual men. Ann Intern Med 96: 693–700, 1982.

4. Holecek

Harwood

: Radiotherapy of Kaposi's sarcoma. Cancer 41: 1733–1738, 1978.

5. Klein

Schwartz

Laor

Milgrom

Burgess

Holtermann

: Treatment of Kaposi's sarcoma with vinblastine. Cancer 45: 427–431, 1980.

6. Klepp

Dahl

Stenwig

: Association of Kaposi's sarcoma and prior immunosuppressive therapy. Cancer 42: 2626–2630, 1978.

7. Penn

: Kaposi's sarcoma in organ transplant recipients. Transplantation 27: 8–11, 1979.

8. Safai

Mike

Giraldo

Beth

Good

; Association of Kaposi's sarcoma with second primary malignancies. Cancer 45: 1472–1479, 1980.

9. Taylor

Templeton

Vogel

Ziegler

Kyalwazi

: Kaposi's sarcoma in Uganda: A clinico-pathologic study. Int J Cancer 8: 122–135, 1971.

10.

10. Curran

: AIDS—two years later. N Engl J Med 309: 609–611, 1983.

11.

11. Drew

Conant

Miner

Huang

Ziegler

Groundwater

Gullett

Volberding

Abrams

Mintz

: Cytomegalovirus and Kaposi's sarcoma in young homosexual men. Lancet 2: 125–127, 1982.

12.

12. Urmacher

Myskowski

Ochoa

Kris

Safai

: Outbreak of Kaposi's sarcoma with cytomegalovirus infection in young homosexual men. Am J Med 72: 569–575, 1982.

13.

13. Lane

Masur

Edgar

Whalen

Rook

Fauci

: Abnormalities of B-cell activity and immunoregulation in patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. N Engl J Med 309: 453–458, 1983.

14.

14. Conte

Hadley

Sande

, and the University of California, San Francisco, Task Force on the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome: Infection control guidelines for patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). N Engl J Med 309: 740–744, 1983.