KAPOSIS-SARCOMA AND AIDS IN UGANDA - ITS FREQUENCY AND GASTROINTESTINAL DISTRIBUTION

The frequency and distribution of gastrointestinal Kaposi's sarcoma we re investigated in 63 consecutive AIDS patients. The main risk factor for AIDS was heterosexual intercourse. Gastrointestinal lesions were f ound in 24 cases (38.1%): 12 patients (11.1%) had both upper and lower GI tract involvement, 7 patients (11.1%) had only oesophago-gastroduo denal lesions and 5 (7.9%) only lower tract disease. Our results show that in heterosexual Africans, the tumours closely resemble the tumour s of western homosexuals in endoscopic appearance, in being multicentr ic and in the gastro-intestinal tract involved. We conclude that even in the heterosexual African AIDS population, the gastrointestinal trac t is frequently involved and this phenomenon, if more widely studied m ight give us new elements about the aetiophatogenesis of Kaposi's sarc oma which is still unclear.