pISSN 3022-6783
eISSN 3022-7712

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Clin Transplant Res

Published online February 5, 2025

© The Korean Society for Transplantation

Kaposi sarcoma of a liver graft in living donor liver transplantation: a rare case report

Umid Salimov1 , Palat Balachandran2 , Konstantin Semash3

1Department of Liver Transplantation, Republican Scientific Center of Emergency Medicine, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
2Department of Liver Transplantation, Asian Institute of Gastroenterology, Hyderabad, India
3Department of Minimally Invasive Surgery, National Children’s Medical Center, Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Correspondence to: Konstantin Semash
Department of Minimally Invasive Surgery, National Children’s Medical Center, 294 Parkent St, Tashkent 100020, Uzbekistan
E-mail: doctorsemash@gmail.com

Received: June 27, 2024; Revised: October 29, 2024; Accepted: December 1, 2024

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Kaposi sarcoma following solid organ transplantation is a rare and underreported complication, with few cases documented globally concerning its origin from liver grafts. This case report describes an Asian woman who developed Kaposi sarcoma in a liver graft following living donor liver transplantation for end-stage liver disease resulting from hepatitis D virus. In accordance with current guidelines, standard immunosuppression was discontinued, and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitors were initiated. The use of mTOR inhibitors led to the complete resolution of the liver graft lesions within 9 months. However, subsequent follow-up revealed several complications, including late anastomotic biliary stricture, extensively drug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae infection, and subtotal hydrothorax. These complications required intensive care unit admission, biliary stenting, oxygen therapy, and pleural drainage. Despite the severity of her condition, the patient fully recovered and showed no signs of recurrence throughout the 64-month follow-up period. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of Kaposi sarcoma in a liver graft with such an extended follow-up.

Keywords: Kaposi sarcoma, Liver transplantation, mTOR inhibitors, Case report