FOLLOW‐UP AFTER HYDATlDIFORM MOLE: STUDIES USING RADIOIMMUNOASSAY FOR URINARY HUMAN CHORIONIC GONADOTROPHIN (HCG)

Abstract

Summary Radioimmunoassay estimations of urinary human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) were performed on 458 patients who had hydatidiform mole between 1963 and 1972. Whenever possible, assays were performed regularly for two years on specimens posted by the patient to a central laboratory. There were no deaths in 280 patients who had regular assays. About 70 per cent of women had an invasive trophoblastic lesion following a hydatidiform mole but these lesions resolved spontaneously in most cases. Using defined criteria for treatment, less than six percent of patients who had hydatidiform mole required chemotherapy for a trophoblastic tumour. Urinary HCG values which were above 40 000 IU per 24 hours for some weeks after evacuation of a mole were associated with a high risk of uterine perforation. It is suggested that women who have had a hydatidiform mole should have at least one measurement of urinary HCG values by radioimmunoassay following any subsequent pregnancy.