title: Kaposi's sarcoma in liver transplant recipients on FK506: two case reports.
abstract: We report two cases of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) after orthotopic liver transplantation for cirrhosis of the liver related to hepatitis C virus. Both cases were Saudi-born Arabs who were negative for human immunodeficiency virus; one patient was receiving FK506 plus prednisolone, and the other patient was receiving FK506. One patient died of fulminant multicentric KS. The other patient, with lesions confined to the lower limbs, is still alive. These are the first case reports of KS in liver transplant recipients in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and, to our knowledge, these are the first case reports of KS in liver transplant recipients on FK506. All previous reports were related to either cyclosporine or conventional immunosuppressive therapy, i.e., azathioprine plus prednisolone.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Rezeig
authors.forename: B M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Fashir
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hainau
authors.forename: H I
authors.initials: HI
authors.lastname: Al Ashgar
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000276:immunology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012514:Sarcoma, Kaposi / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D012529:Saudi Arabia / Q000453:epidemiology; D016559:Tacrolimus / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D016559:Tacrolimus