[Kaposi angiosarcoma in renal transplant recipients]

Four cases of Kaposi's sarcoma in recipients of renal transplants are reported. The 4 patients of Italian origin were male. Kaposi's sarcoma, began during pre-transplantation haemodialysis, then extended in one of the patients; in the remaining 3 patients it developed 20 months on average after transplantation. All patients were receiving an immunosuppressive treatment (azathioprine, systemic corticosteroids, anti-lymphocyte serum). Kaposi's sarcoma was located in the skin and mucosae, sometimes in lymph nodes and viscera. In 2 patients the cutaneous and mucosal lesions responded well to vindesine: in the other two patients withdrawal of the immunosuppressive therapy had no effect on the course of the disease. This study highlights the multiple factors involved in the development of Kaposi's sarcoma, notably immunosuppression and the ethnic factor.