Abstract
BackgroundCOVID-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 presentationWe describe a case of disseminated KS in a 61-year-old immunocompetent Albanian man after hospitalization for COVID-19.Methods for literature researchWe 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.ResultsWe 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.ConclusionsSARS-CoV-2 infection and its treatment may lead to reactivation of several latent infections, including HHV-8 and its related clinical syndrome, Kaposi sarcoma.
Highlights
COVID-19 and its related anti-inflammatory treatment may induce the reactivation of latent bacterial, parasitic, and viral infections
We describe a case of Kaposi sarcoma (KS) in COVID-19 patient and postulate that Interleukin-6 (IL-6) activity and steroidinduced 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
Summary
COVID-19 and its related anti-inflammatory treatment (steroids, immunomodulators) may induce the reactivation of latent bacterial, parasitic, and viral infections. No case of disseminated HHV-8-related Kaposi sarcoma (KS) after COVID-19 and its treatment has been described so far. One case of cutaneous KS concurrently with COVID-19 has been previously reported. COVID-19 and its related anti-inflammatory treatment (steroids, immunomodulators) can induce the reactivation of several latent infections, e.g., strongyloidiasis, hepatitis B and herpetic infections [1, 2]. Only one case of cutaneous HHV-8-related KS after COVID-19 has been described so far [6]. No information about the immune status of the patient, the clinical severity of COVID-19, and concomitant drugs were reported by authors. Immunocompetent subjects usually experience localized cutaneous lesions
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