Identification of human herpesvirus-8 in Kaposi＆#39;s sarcoma with bullous pemphigoid

• Published in: 中华医学杂志：英文版 no. 4; pp. 786 - 788
• Main Author: Wang T Li CT Yang C Cui HZ Fu XH Wen LL Cui Y Yang S Zhang X J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: herpesvirus-8; human
• EISSN: 2542-5641
• ISSN: 0366-6999

Kaposi＆#39;s sarcoma （KS） is a rare,malignant vascular.tumor of the skin,mucosa,and viscera with an increased incidence in human immunodeficiency virus （HIV）-positive patients.According to the clinical characteristics and the affected population,four clinical types of KS have been described successively：classic,endemic to Africa,acquired immunodeficiency syndrome （AIDS）-associated,and immunosuppression associated type.Bullous pemphigoid （BP） is an acquired autoimmune bullous skin disease that frequently occurs in the elderly and is characterized by intraepidermal blisters and immunoglobulin G （IgG） deposits on the basement membrane.A few cases of KS have occurred in immunosuppressed patients with BP.Here,we report a Chinese female patient diagnosed with immunosuppression associated KS that was induced by the short-term use of immunosuppressive agents for BP.We also present a review of the literature on immunosuppressed KS with BP and discuss the potential role of human herpesvirus-8 （HHV-8） in the pathogenic mechanism.