ECHOCARDIOGRAPHIC DETECTION OF KAPOSIS-SARCOMA CAUSING CARDIAC-TAMPONADE IN A PATIENT WITH ACQUIRED-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-SYNDROME

Pericardial effusions are common in patients with acquired immunodefic iency syndrome (AIDS). The differential diagnosis is diverse, and in m ost cases the etiology cannot be established. A cardiac tamponade was diagnosed in a 32-year-old male with AIDS and systemic Kaposi's sarcom a. Transthoracic echocardiography revealed a large pericardial effusio n with right atrial collapse and a mobile multilobular mass at the ape x protruding into pericardial space. Autopsy showed that this mass was Kaposi's sarcoma confined to the epicardial fat. This is the first ca se of cardiac Kaposi's sarcoma detected premortem by echocardiography.