Description of Kaposi's sarcoma
Descripción del sarcoma de Kaposi
- Date
- 1872 · confidence high
- Place
- Vienna, Austria
- Credited to
- Moritz Kaposi
- Field
- Life & health
What was discovered
Hungarian-Austrian dermatologist Moritz Kaposi described in 1872 an 'idiopathic multiple pigment sarcoma of the skin', documenting the characteristic purple skin lesions of this disease, which was named after him in 1891. A century later it became an AIDS-defining illness, until in 1994 human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) was identified as its cause.
The city is not explicitly stated in the source consulted; Vienna is assumed based on Kaposi's affiliation at that time.
What it led to
- Recognition of the name 'Kaposi's sarcoma' (1891)
- AIDS-defining illness in the 1980s epidemic
- Discovery of human herpesvirus 8 as the cause (1994)