On June 3, 2024, the Pulmonary Pathology Society (PPS) published a case written by Jusmita “Jesse” Saifullan, MD, PGY-3, Associate Professor of Pathology Sergio Piña-Oviedo, MD, and fellow Duke Pulmonary/Thoracic Pathology faculty members John Carney, MD, Louis DiBernardo, MD, Carolyn Glass, MD, PhD, Huihua Li, MD, PhD, Elizabeth Pavlisko, MD, Victor Roggli, MD, as its June “Case of the Month.” The case focuses on pulmonary involvement by Kaposi sarcoma (KS) in a patient with a history of HIV/AIDS, and highlights important differentials to consider when making the diagnosis.
KS is a low-grade vascular neoplasm – a type of tumor originating from blood vessels or lymphatic vessels - associated with human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) infection. While it can present virtually anywhere in the body (most commonly as mucocutaneous lesions), pulmonary involvement is an uncommon manifestation that is easy to miss. A definitive diagnosis relies on a medical procedure used to examine the inside of the airways and lungs called bronchoscopic visualization and histopathologic confirmation with a biopsy. While the prognosis for patients with widespread disease is generally poor, studies have shown marked improvement in clinical symptoms and pulmonary function when combination chemotherapy is used for those with pulmonary involvement.
Piña-Oviedo serves in Duke’s divisions of Hematopathology and Pulmonary/Thoracic Pathology, and is associate director of Proteomics for the Biorepository and Precision Pathology Center (BRPC). He joined the faculty in March 2022 as an assistant professor, and is certified in both anatomic and clinical pathology and hematopathology.
Saifullan graduated from the University of Pittsburgh and obtained her MD from Northeast Ohio Medical University.