[Endemic Kaposi's sarcoma in Dakar: 29 cases].

INTRODUCTION

There is a lack of data on endemic Kaposi's sarcoma in sub-Saharan Africa. The goal of this study was to clarify its epidemiological, clinical and therapeutic aspects in that region.

PATIENTS AND

METHODS

A 7-years retrospective study, including all patients with endemic Kaposi's disease diagnosis was carried out.

RESULTS

We identified 29 cases of endemic Kaposi's representing 1.2% of total hospitalizations and an incidence of 4.4. The mean age and the sex ratio were 63.2 years 2.22 respectively. The average delayed time to seek for medical care was 6.75 months. Cutaneous manifestations were dominated by angiomatous papulonodular lesions in 15 cases (51.72%) ulcerated lesions in 8 cases (27.58%), lymphedema in 5 cases (17.24%), a sarcomatous degeneration in 2 cases and verrucous papules in one case. Mucosal involvement was observed in 7 cases (24.13%). The extracutaneous lesions were noted in 18 cases, with 6 cases of bone, 5 cases of lymph nodes, 5 cases of gastrointestinal and 2 cases of lung involvement. The outcome was favorable for single-agent chemotherapy with bleomycin in more than half of the cases. Recurrences were observed in 2 patients, 2 cases were died and 7 cases never came back.

CONCLUSION

Endemic Kaposi's disease is more frequent in elderly people with a higher frequency of extracutaneous involvement and florid forms.