Eye
Conjunctiva
Mesenchymal tumors
Kaposi sarcoma-conjunctiva
Author: Nat Pernick, M.D.
Last author update: 1 September 2013
Last staff update: 24 December 2020
Copyright: 2004-2023, PathologyOutlines.com, Inc.
PubMed Search: Kaposi sarcoma conjunctiva
Table of Contents
Definition / general | Case reports | Treatment | Clinical images | Microscopic (histologic) description | Microscopic (histologic) images | Positive stains | Differential diagnosisCite this page: Pernick N. Kaposi sarcoma-conjunctiva. PathologyOutlines.com website. https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/eyeconjkaposi.html. Accessed September 21st, 2023.
Definition / general
- See also Soft Tissue chapter
- Historically present in up to 20% of AIDS patients
- First manifestation of disease in 4 - 14%
- Dugel classification (Ophthalmology 1992;99:1127)
- Type I: patchy, flat, < 3 mm thick, thin dilated vascular channels lined by endothelial cells, no spindle cells, no mitotic activity
- Type II: flat tumors < 3 mm thick, empty vascular channels linked by plump, fusiform endothelial cells with hyperchromatic nuclei, few spindle cells, no mitotic figures
- Type III: nodular, 3 mm or more, packed spindle cells with hyperchromatic nuclei and mitotic figures, slit-like spaces with RBCs
Case reports
- 34 year old man with conjunctival mass (Ophthal Plast Reconstr Surg 2005;21:314)
- 83 year old HIV- man with classic (indolent) Kaposi sarcoma (Br J Ophthalmol 1994;78:488)
Treatment
- Local excision with 1 - 2 mm margins plus cryotherapy
- Type III tumors often recur
Clinical images
AFIP images
Elevated nodule arising from fornix
Images hosted on other servers:
Multinodular conjunctival mass
Microscopic (histologic) description
- Swollen endothelial type cells with slit-like vessels
- Advanced lesions have spindle cells and mitotic figures
Microscopic (histologic) images
AFIP images
Subepithelial proliferation of spindle cells and vessels
Biphasic subepithelial tumor
Swollen endothelial cells
Enlarged endothelial cell contains a cluster of hyaline globules
Images hosted on other servers:
Spindle cells with extravasated RBCs
Scattered endothelial lined spaces
Positive stains
Differential diagnosis
- Angiosarcoma
- Angiolymphoid hyperplasia with eosinophilia
- Bacillary angiomatosis
- Spindle cell tumors
