Epidemiological Data on the Histopathological Diagnosis of Kaposi's Sarcoma in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo

Abstract

Introduction: Kaposi's sarcoma is endemic in sub-Saharan Africa and remains to this day the most common cancer in people living with HIV. This study aimed to obtain epidemiological data on Kaposi's sarcoma diagnosed at the cytopathological anatomy laboratory in the Republic of Congo. Material and Methods: Authors collected all cases of Kaposi's Sarcoma over a 22 years period from 2000 to 2021. Data was collected from hospital registers, medical records and reports of pathological examination results. Results: A total of 37 cases were enrolled in the study, with the annually incidence of Kaposi's sarcoma around 2 cases/year. The age of patients at diagnosis ranged from 13 to 80 years old, with the average age of 31.5 years. Male to female ratio was 3.1 and females were older than males. The majority of the lesions were in the lower limbs, 13 (35%) and nodular KS accounted the most observed elementary lesions of all cases (59%). Conclusion: Although it occurs frequently in PLHIV, KS is less common in the Republic of Congo and remains an unrecognized condition among the Congolese population. Key words: Kaposi's sarcoma, Epidemiology, Republic of Congo