Complete mole
Complete mole
Updated: 12/04/2018
© Jun Wang, MD, PhD
General features
- Diploid paternal only genome
- Higher risk for invasive mole or choriocarcinoma
- Poor prognostic factors: Large for date uterus, ovarian enlargement due to theca-lutein cysts
Key pathogenesis
- Abnormal gametogenesis and fertilization
Invasive mole
- Usually complete moles
- Increased capacity of the trophoblast for invasion
- May invade parametrial tissue, broad ligament and blood vessels, but serosa is usually intact
- Present with uterine bleeding and elevated hCG after evacuation of a mole
- Differential diagnosis
Choriocarcinoma: High hCG, but NO villi
Placenta increta or percreta: During
delivery/parturition; NO hydropic villi, NO abnormal trophoblastic
proliferation
- Treatment: Chemotherapy
Clinical presentations
- Vaginal bleeding or a missed abortion
- Passage of grape-like vesicles
- Disproportionately larger uterus for the stage of pregnancy
- Increasing serum hCG levels after the 14th week (normally decreased levels)
- Pre-eclampsia/eclampsia during early pregnancy stages
Key Laboratory findings
- High serum hCG
Radiologic findings
- Snow storm appearance in sonography
Key morphological features
- Numerous grape-like villi
- Diffuse, circumferential trophoblastic proliferation
- Avascular edematous villi and central cisterns
- NO fetus
Markers
- hCG
- p53
- NO p57 (expressed from maternal allele)
Genetic abnormalities
- Diploid
- Paternal only genome
- Predominantly 46,XX, arising from duplication of the chromosomes of a haploid sperm after fertilization of an egg with inactive or absent maternal chromosomes
- May be 46,XY as a result of fertilization of an empty ovum by 2 sperm (dispermy)
Treatment
- Evacuation with curettage, if no invasion
Back to female genital tract
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