Dermatopathologic findings in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome

We recently undertook a survey of all patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) seen at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center (UM/JMMC) and reviewed all skin biopsies received from these patients. Skin was the second most common organ biopsied; 36% of all patients (78/217) with AIDS had at least one skin biopsy. Kaposi's sarcoma (KS), the most frequent diagnosis, was seen in 47% of the biopsy specimens. Cutaneous infection, most commonly herpes simplex infection, was present in 19%. Atypical presentations of common dermatologic infections were also seen. Among the patients with neither KS nor infection, 16 had a vacuolar type of interface dermatitis.