[Cutaneous Kaposi's sarcoma with pulmonary carcinomatous lymphangitis in patient with heart transplantation]

The great strides in organ transplantation have been accompanied by some specific pathologies, notably, neoplasia, including Kaposi's sarcoma which occupies the third place in frequency after cutaneous tumours and malignant lymphomas. We report a case of cutaneous Kaposi's sarcoma developing some six months after a cardiac transplant. The modulation of immuno-suppression and treatment with Alpha interferon allowed an initial stabilisation of the cutaneous lesions. However, there were secondary developments of the lesions and, 21 months after the initial presentation, the patient developed a diffuse infiltrating pneumonia leading to death. The autopsy revealed lymphangitis carcinomatosis of Kaposi's sarcoma type. This observation underlines the therapeutic difficulties seen in Kaposi's sarcoma after organ transplantation when there is no alternative to allow a significant reduction or cessation of immuno-suppression.