Fine-needle aspiration diagnosis of Kaposi's sarcoma in a developing country

Fine-needle aspiration (FNA) cytology was performed on 15 patients with per ipheral lymphadenopathy and/or skin lesions referred to the Department of P athology of the Hospital Central of Maputo, Maputo, Mozambique. Epitrochlea r lymph nodes were the most frequently aspirated site. All aspirates allowe d diagnoses of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS). Smears contained loosely cohesive clu sters of bland spindle cells, with a radial arrangement and nuclear crush a rtifacts. These diagnostic clues have not been described in other spindle-c ell intranodal lesions that should be considered in differential diagnoses. Taking into consideration the high prevalence of AIDS and limited resource s for diagnosis in Africa, FNA cytology appears to be a useful method for t he diagnosis of KS in developing countries, reducing the necessity for surg ical lymph node excision. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2000; 23:322-325. (C) 2000 Wil ey-Liss, Inc.