Kaposi's Sarcoma Limited to the Facial Skin

Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) is a multicentric, vascular neoplasm that typically occurs initially in the skin of the lower extremities of elderly men. The skin and mucous membranes of the head and neck are occasionally involved in patients who have advanced disease with widespread skin and visceral lesions. 1 The limitation of KS to the skin of the face and neck is unusual. Our patient had the clinical appearance and therapeutic response of KS restricted to the facial skin. Previously reported cases of KS limited to the skin of the head and neck are reviewed. Report of a Case A 73-year-old man was seen in 1980 for multiple recurrent facial skin lesions. In 1972, a 6-mm, purple, bleeding nodule had developed in the right preauricular area and a biopsy specimen revealed the histopathologic features of KS, with an ulcerated epidermis overlying a well-circumscribed, dermal, spindle-cell proliferation. The tumor cells had large