Aids: new warning about biopsy

01 November 2002

People with AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) should beware of biopsies, according to doctors in the USA.

Puncturing of the skin of an AIDS patient for tissue sampling can cause Kaposi’s sarcoma to develop at the puncture site. Kaposi’s sarcoma, a malignant skin tumour, is the most prominent feature of AIDS and one of the many causes of death in such patients (N Engl J Med, 2002; 347: 763-4).

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