A case of oral Kaposi's sarcoma initially diagnosed as epulis

Abstract

Kaposi's sarcoma is one of the most common diseases in patients with AIDS, but it is rare in Japan. We describe a case of oral Kaposi's sarcoma diagnosed as epulis on the basis of clinical and pathological findings. Chang (1994) reported that Kaposi's sarcoma is associated with human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8). We confirmed the presence of HHV-8 in this case by the nested PCR method. Moreover, the oral Kaposi's sarcoma indicated that this patient had AIDS.