CUTANEOUS CRYPTOCOCCOSIS AND KAPOSIS-SARCOMA OCCURRING IN THE SAME LESIONS IN A PATIENT WITH THE ACQUIRED-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-SYNDROME

A 34-year-old woman presented with a history of fever, malaise and ski n lesions. A diagnosis of Kaposi's sarcoma and acquired immunodeficien cy syndrome (AIDS) was established, and in addition, the skin lesion w hich was biopsied also demonstrated cryptococcal infection. Disseminat ed cryptococcosis was later confirmed and the disease ran a florid cou rse. The co-existence of different diseases within the same lesion is a feature of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, this being the third documented case of simultaneous Kaposi's sarcoma and cutaneo us cryptococcosis occurring at the same site in a patient with AIDS. T he nature of this co-existence is discussed with reference to the path ogenesis of Kaposi's sarcoma.