Disseminated Kaposi sarcoma following COVID-19 in a 61-year-old Albanian immunocompetent man: a case report and review of the literature

Background COVID-19 and its related anti-inflammatory treatment (steroids, immunomodulators) may induce the reactivation of latent bacterial, parasitic, and viral infections. According to our knowledge, no case of disseminated HHV-8-related Kaposi sarcoma (KS) after COVID-19 and its treatment has be...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European journal of medical research Vol. 26; no. 1; pp. 152 - 6
Main Authors: Gardini, Giulia, Odolini, Silvia, Moioli, Giovanni, Papalia, Dorothea Angela, Ferrari, Vittorio, Matteelli, Alberto, Caligaris, Silvio
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: London BioMed Central 20.12.2021
BioMed Central Ltd
Springer Nature B.V
BMC
Subjects:
Abdomen
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome
AIDS
Anemia
Antibiotics
Antigens
Biomedicine
Biopsy
Case Report
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
COVID-19 - diagnosis
COVID-19 - drug therapy
COVID-19 - genetics
Databases, Chemical
Diabetes
Digital libraries
Disease transmission
Drug dosages
Gallbladder diseases
Health aspects
HHV-8
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus
Humans
Hypertension
Infection
Infections
Infectious Diseases
Interleukin-6 - metabolism
Interleukins
Internal Medicine
Kaposi sarcoma
Kaposi's sarcoma
Kaposis sarcoma
Laboratories
Language
Latent infection
Lymphatic system
Male
Medical tests
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Middle Aged
Oncology
Pathogenesis
Reactivation
Rehabilitation
Sarcoma, Kaposi - complications
Sarcoma, Kaposi - drug therapy
Sarcoma, Kaposi - genetics
SARS-CoV-2 - drug effects
SARS-CoV-2 - genetics
SARS-CoV-2 - pathogenicity
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
Skin
Steroids
Surgery
University and college libraries
Viral infections
Virus diseases
Albania
COVID-19
Latent infection
Kaposi sarcoma
HHV-8
Reactivation
ISSN:2047-783X, 0949-2321, 2047-783X
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Background COVID-19 and its related anti-inflammatory treatment (steroids, immunomodulators) may induce the reactivation of latent bacterial, parasitic, and viral infections. According to our knowledge, no case of disseminated HHV-8-related Kaposi sarcoma (KS) after COVID-19 and its treatment has been described so far. Only one case of cutaneous KS concurrently with COVID-19 has been previously reported. Case presentation We describe a case of disseminated KS in a 61-year-old immunocompetent Albanian man after hospitalization for COVID-19. Methods for literature research We used PubMed as biomedical database for the literature research. We selected keyword combinations including “Kaposi sarcoma,” “HHV-8,” “immunocompetent,” “COVID-19,” “SARS-CoV-2,” and “steroids.” No time or language limitation was set. Titles and abstracts of selected articles were systematically screened. Articles were included in the examination if they were published under free access through the digital library of the University of Brescia (Italy), and provided full text. Articles were excluded if the topic was beyond the aim of our study. Finally, we selected 15 articles. Results We describe a case of KS in COVID-19 patient and postulate that Interleukin-6 (IL-6) activity and steroid-induced immunodeficiency may play a major role in KS emergence. No published case of disseminated KS following COVID-19 in otherwise healthy individuals was found through the systematic literature review, despite the high incidence of COVID-19 in areas with medium–high prevalence of HHV-8 infection. This observation might be explained by the role of individual genetic susceptibility factors. Conclusions SARS-CoV-2 infection and its treatment may lead to reactivation of several latent infections, including HHV-8 and its related clinical syndrome, Kaposi sarcoma.
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ISSN:2047-783X
0949-2321
2047-783X
DOI:10.1186/s40001-021-00620-9