• DOI:10.1111/j.1471-0528.1982.tb04692.x
• Corpus ID: 35855744

Unmasking moles

@article{Bagshawe1982UnmaskingM,
  title={Unmasking moles},
  author={K. D. Bagshawe and Sylvia D. Lawler},
  journal={BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics \& Gynaecology},
  year={1982},
  volume={89}
}

• K. Bagshawe, S. Lawler
• Published 1 April 1982
• Biology
• BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology

Until recently the diagnosis of hydatidiform mole was based on macroscopic appearances and histopathology. It was recognized that it was not a uniform entity and that the histological features varied. Classical or complete mole was defined as a conceptus usually without a fetus in which accumulation of fluid in the mesenchymal core of the villi resulted in visible cysts and was associated with an overgrowth of the trophoblast and an undue tendency to penetrate the uterine wall (Park 1971). Transitional mole was diagnosed when not all the villi were cystic and only some of them were large enough to justify the diagnosis of mole, It was also accepted that early spontaneous abortions of both pathological and non-pathological ova were associated with hydatidiform changes (degeneration) in the villi and that this occurred less frequently with the non-pathological ova (Hertig & Edmonds 1940). It was known from investigations of sex chromatin that complete moles were almost always female (Park 1971). In the 1960s the application of chromosome studies to the investigation of spontaneous abortions showing hydatidiform 'degeneration' led to the recognition of the association of triploid conceptuses with visible swelling of the chorionic villi (Carr 1969). A new light was thrown on the subject when Kajii & Ohama (1977) demonstrated that complete moles are homozygous and androgenetic in that they lack any maternal contribution to the genome. Kajii & Ohama used chromosomal polymorphisms which enable the parental origin of the chromosomes to be defined. The most likely explanation of the findings is that the nucleus of the ovum is lost or inactivated and that a haploid sperm duplicates, thus reconstituting the diploid number but rendering the complete mole genetically homozygous. These findings have been confirmed by others