Donor-derived human herpesvirus 8 infection with Kaposi sarcoma and Kaposi sarcoma inflammatory cytokine syndrome in a heart transplant recipient: A case report.

Human herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8) infection is associated with neoplastic and non-neoplastic diseases in immunocompromised patients. Kaposi sarcoma (KS) is a common malignancy reported in solid organ transplant recipients (SOTR). Kaposi sarcoma inflammatory cytokine syndrome (KICS), initially described in HIV patients, is characterized by high viral loads, elevated levels of cytokines, cytopenia, high fever, organ failure, and poor outcome. We report the case of a 54-year-old patient who developed simultaneous occurrence of KS of lymph nodes and KICS as a complication of primary donor-transmitted HHV-8 infection, after heart transplantation (HT). The diagnosis, management, and prognosis of this condition are unclear and needs a multidisciplinary approach.

T(11;18) is a marker for all stage gastric MALT lymphomas that will not respond to H. pylori eradication.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Eradication of Helicobacter pylori leads to cure of gastric mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma in 75% of localized cases. However, prolonged follow-up is necessary to determine whether a lymphoma responds to therapy. In a small series of cases, we showed that t(11;18)(q21;q21)-positive MALT lymphomas failed to respond to H. pylori eradication. The present study aimed to verify this finding in a large cohort and confirm whether the translocation predicts the response of stage I(E) tumors, for which clinical staging has little prognostic value. METHODS: A total of 111 patients with H. pylori-positive gastric MALT lymphoma treated with antibiotics were studied. Clinical staging was undertaken before therapy. The response of lymphoma to H. pylori eradication was determined by histologic examination of gastric biopsy specimens. Diagnostic biopsy specimens were analyzed for t(11;18)(q21;q21) by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction of the API2-MALT1 transcript. RESULTS: Forty-seven of the 48 patients who showed complete regression had lymphoma at stage I(E), whereas 43 of the 63 nonresponsive cases were at stage I(E) and the remaining cases at stage II(E) or above. t(11;18)(q21;q21) was detected in 2 of 48 complete-regression cases, and these positive cases showed relapse of lymphoma in the absence of H. pylori reinfection. In contrast, the translocation was present in 42 of the 63 nonresponsive cases, including 26 of 43 (60%) at stage I(E). CONCLUSIONS: t(11;18)(q21;q21)-positive gastric MALT lymphomas, including those at stage I(E), do not respond to H. pylori eradication. Detection of the translocation should help the clinical management of patients with gastric MALT lymphoma.