—  SPECIALTY CONFERENCE  —

Pulmonary Pathology

Case 2 - 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..

Case 2 - Figure 1
Gross specimen of lung

Case 2 - Figure 2
Whole mount of selected slide

Case 2 - Figure 3
High power magnification

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
  1. Pneumocystis

  2. Mycobacterial ( MAC, M-TB)

  3. Fungal (dimorphic / mycelial)

  4. Toxoplasmosis

  5. Viral (herpes)

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

c) Malignancies:
  1. Kaposi's sarcoma

  2. Lymphoma

  3. 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
    • Feature of KS, lymphoma

  • Nodular infiltrates
    • Infections (MAC, TB)

    • Lymphoma

    • More advanced KS

  • Micronodular infiltrates
    • KS

    • PCP, TB

  • Ground glass opacities
    • PCP

  • Pleural effusions
    • KS

    • Non-PCP pneumonia

  • Position of infiltrates
    • Perihilar
      • Symmetric – PCP

      • Non summetric – KS

    • Basal
      • Non-PCP pneumonia

  • 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