Background: Kaposi sarcoma inflammatory cytokine syndrome (KICS) is a condition affecting HIV-positive individuals infected with Kaposi sarcoma herpesvirus. It was recently described and only few cases have been reported in the literature so far. In this syndrome, cytokine dysregulation, primarily Il-6, is responsible for amplifying systemic response leading to distributive shock.
Case Report: This report illustrates a rare cause of distributive shock with fever, severe intravascular haemolysis and diffuse rash in a HIV-patient. The main difficulty concerning correct diagnosis and therapy was the differential diagnosis and the patient’s necessity to receive urgent intensive medical treatment. Why should an emergency physician be aware of this? This clinical case reminds physicians that there are some critical illnesses, like KICS, affecting HIV-positive patients, which present as a distributive shock with fever but are different from sepsis and require a specific treatment.