| Summary: | Hydatidiform mole, invasive mole, and choriocarcinoma are neoplasms
that originate in the fetal chorion. According to Hertz
(1), the benign hydatidiform mole represents the beginning of a
disease continuum, whereas the highly malignant choriocarcinoma
represents the end of the spectrum. It has been known for many
years that most hydatidiform moles are female. In a collected
series of hydatiform mole sex chromatin studies, Lawler (2) reported
a 90% overall frequency of chromatin-positive cases. The
remaining 10% of the cases were assumed to be male.
In 1978 Szulman and Surti (3) reported that hydatidiform moles
could be divided into two distinct syndromes. They described the
complete or classic mole without discernable embryo or fetus and
with diploid karyotype, and the partial mole in which there was
an ascertainable fetus and a triploid karyotype. Complete moles
appeared clinically as missed abortions usually during the second
trimester, whereas partial moles presented in the first trimester
or rarely as spontaneous abortions.
The incidence of gestational trophoblastic disease appears to
vary widely in different parts of the world. In the United Kingdom
hydatidiform moles occur as a complication of approximately 1
in 1500 pregnancies while in in Indonesia estimates are of the
order of 1 in 200 pregnancies (4) .
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