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Pulmonary Pathology
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Case 2 -
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Kaposi's Sarcoma

Joanne Lynne Wright, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
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Case History
- 59 year old male

- HIV positive for 8 years: HAART therapy

- Rectal B cell lymphoma previous year treated
conservatively

- Cutaneous Kaposi's with eye involvement
- Previous admission 20 days prior to death for management

- Presents 5 days prior to death with:
- productive cough

- shortness of breath

- fatigue

Physical Exam
- Multiple cutaneous Kaposi's sarcoma
lesions

- Bulky lymph nodes in bilateral inguinal and left
posterior cervical areas

- Inspiratory crepitations in left mid lung and right
lung base

Radiology
Admission Chest X-Ray: Infiltrates in both lower lobes and right middle lobe with subsegmental
atelectasis and right basilar pleural effusion Marked septal thickening.

CT: One week prior to admission: Peribronchial soft tissue infiltration with bronchial
narrowing. Focal nodular infiltrates. Bilateral small pleural effusion.

Three days after admission: Marked progression of disease with accentuation of lymphatics, increased
nodularity, consolidation, and increase in size of pleural effusions..


Clinical Differential Diagnosis
- Infection (PCP, MAI, bacterial)

- Pulmonary malignancy

- Kaposi Sarcoma

- lymphoma

- Immune reconstitution syndrome

- Cryptogenic organizing
pneumonia

Pathologic Diagnosis :
Kaposi's sarcoma

Differential Diagnosis of Pulmonary Infiltrates in a Patient with HIV Disease and Anti-retroviral Therapy

a) Infections:
Community acquired bacterial pneumonia
Immunodeficiency related pneumonias
- Pneumocystis

- Mycobacterial ( MAC, M-TB)

- Fungal (dimorphic / mycelial)

- Toxoplasmosis

- Viral (herpes)

b) Disease related to HAART therapy:
Immunoreconstitution inflammatory syndrome
Drug reaction

c) Malignancies:
- Kaposi's sarcoma

- Lymphoma

- Epithelial malignancies

Kaposi's Sarcoma
1. Classical Kaposi's sarcoma
- Primarily skin related

- May involve viscera in 10% as a late phenomenon

- Found in patients of Eastern Europe and
Mediterranean origin, marked male predominance
2. Endemic Kaposi's sarcoma
- African, HIV negative

- More common in children and adolescents

- Epidemiology complicated by irregular HIV testing
data
3. Immunosuppression / transplant related Kaposi's sarcoma
- 0.1 to 1.0 % of transplant recipients

- May resolve with cessation of immunosupression
4. AIDS associated
- Almost all cases of Kaposi's are HHV8 positive [can
be helpful as a diagnostic tool]

- Virus encodes proteins homologous to oncoproteins
- Bcl-2 like anti-apoptotic protein

- Protein cyclin related to cell growth

- Inhibitor of interferon signaling pathway

- Encodes chemokines which activate angiogenesis and
inhibit Th1 T-cell response

Presentation of Kaposi's sarcoma in the lung
- cough in more than 50% of patients

- fever in 20%

- dyspnea in approximately 10%

- pain / hemoptysis / lymphadenopathy less than 5%
each

Radiological Differential Diagnosis of Kaposi's Sarcoma by Pattern
- Focal Consolidation
- More common in non-PCP pneumonia

- Reticular Infiltrates
- Classical for PCP pneumonia BUT

- Found in almost same frequency in non-PCP pneumonia

- Septal lines

- Nodular infiltrates
- Infections (MAC, TB)

- Lymphoma

- More advanced KS

- Micronodular infiltrates
- KS

- PCP, TB

- Ground glass opacities

- Pleural effusions
- KS

- Non-PCP pneumonia

- Position of infiltrates
- Perihilar
- Symmetric – PCP

- Non summetric – KS

- Basal

- Lymphadenopathy
- MAC

- Lymphoma

- HAART effects

- Developed KS

Differential Diagnosis Related to CD4 count
- Less than 200 – PCP, MAC, Lymphoma, KS, non-PCP
pneumonia

- More than 500 – bronchopneumonia

Pathological Features of Kaposi's sarcoma
- Gross: discrete dark red and hemorrhagic nodules

- Gross and micro: follows lymphatic distribution
(septa and bronchovascular bundles)
(useful diagnostic clue)

- Micro: spindle cells admixed with inflammatory
cells (lymphocytes and plasma cells) in no specific cellular arrangement
- Cleft like spaces with intact or degenerate RBC

- Cytological features of cells
- Elongate nuclei

- Mild cellular atypia

- Occasional mitoses

- Cytoplasm with hyaline globules (degenerate RBC)

- Immunohistochemistry
- HHV 8 positive

- CD 34, CD31 positive

- D2-40 positive

- VEGFR-3 positive

- Factor VIII negative

Differential Diagnosis of Vascular Proliferations in the Lung
Benign: hemangioma / lymphangioma
- Patient population : any age

- Gross: May be well demarcated or ill defined, but
in no specific place in the lung

- Micro: cavernous or capillary spaces
- Endothelial cells bland

- No mitotic activity

- Immunohistochemical profile
- Both CD 31 positive

- Hemangioma CD 34 positive

- Lymphangioma D2-40 positive
Malignant: Hemangioendothelioma
- Patient population 50% less than 40 years of age
- Often asymptomatic

- High ratio females:males

- Radiology: multiple nodules with or without ground
glass opacities

- Gross: nodules grey in color with "chondroid"
texture

- Microscopic: nodules associated with small vessels
and lymphatics, but with intraalveolar and interstitial growth
- Greater intensity of cellularity along periphery of
nodules

- Cytology: cells round to spindled
- Intracytoplasmic lumena with may have RBC

- Stroma chondroid or hyaline

- Immunohistochemistry
- Factor VIII, CD 31, CD 34 positive

- 50% CD 7 positive
Malignant: Angiosarcoma (non-great vessel disease)
- Patient population: wide age range, male:female 3:1
- Symptoms: chest pain, cough, hemoptysis / hemothorax

- Radiology: interstitial / airspace infiltrates / masses
- Diffuse / single / multiple

- Gross: lymphatic distribution

- Microscopic: irregular anastomosing vascular channels
- Ranging from cavernous to capillary to slid like

- Cytology: atypical endothelial cells with "hobnail" appearance
- Cellular crowding forming papillary projections and solid nodules

- Pleomorphic cells with high mitotic rate

- Intracytoplasmic vacuoles and microlumena

- Immunohistochemistry
- Factor VIII, CD 31 CD 34 positive

References
- Schlossbauer et al: Pulmonary radiological
characteristics in patients with HIV infection at the time of highly active antiretroviral therapy
(HAART). Eur J Med Res 2007; 12:341

- Weissferdt et al: Primary vascular tumors of the
lungs: a review. Ann Diag Pathol 2010:14 296

- Antman et al: Kaposi's sarcoma. New England Journal of Medicine 2000; 343: 1027

- Allen et al: Imaging lung manifestations of HIV/AIDS. Annals of Thoracic Medicine 2010; 5:201

- Kandemir et al: Lymphatic differentiation in Classic Kaposi's sarcoma: Patterns of D2-40
immunoexpression in the course of tumor progression. Pathology Oncology Research 2010 DOI
10.1007/s12253-011-9392-9
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