[Morphological investigation in microscopic mole].

Abstract

Although regulations for treating trophoblastic disease have been established, the diagnostic standards and biological behavior of the microscopic mole are not always described distinctly. I observed morphological changes in the various villi existing between abortion villi and normal villi or total mole and investigated problems related to the microscopic mole. As a result, (1) the disappearance of the villous vessels, central liquefaction and proliferation of the villous cells were observed, though at a low incidence, not only in patients with abortion but also in those with normal villi; (2) When the short axis of the villi was 1,000 microns or less, there were no patients in which villus vessels disappeared, or central liquefaction or proliferation of the villous cells occurred; (3) Among patients with villi having a short axis of 1,000 microns or more, there were patients in whom trophoblastic disease could not be completely distinguished from total mole. A successive tumor developed in 2 patients in the group with (3) findings; (4), I propose that patients who satisfy the criteria in (3), above, should be regarded as those with microscopic mole while others should be regarded as those with hydropic degeneration in a narrow sense.