Case report. Treatment of aggressive epidemic Kaposi's sarcoma of the conjunctiva by radiotherapy.

Abstract

To the Editor. —Until recently, Kaposi's sarcoma was an uncommon disease that was usually limited to the skin of the legs of elderly men. Ocular involvement was exceedingly rare, and, to our knowledge, as recently as five years ago there had been fewer than 30 cases reported in the world's literature.1 Recently, ophthalmologists have become aware of a wide variety of ways in which the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) may affect the eye, including involvement by Kaposi's sarcoma. Retinal cottonwool spots and cytomegalovirus retinitis are the most common manifestations of this disease. Retinal periphlebitis, neuro-ophthalmologic motility abnormalities, and conjunctival Kaposi's sarcoma, however, also have been reported. Thus far, most reports of conjunctival epidemic Kaposi's sarcoma describe the clinical and/or pathologic features of this disease but provide little information about treatment. We believe this is the first report to detail the successful treatment by radiation of an aggressive conjunctival lesion