Patient's question:
What is a molar pregnancy?Doctor's answer:
Hello: Molar pregnancy is a proliferative disease of the trophoblastic cells of the placental villi. Molar pregnancy can occur due to residual cells from miscarriage or full-term pregnancy, but it is more commonly caused by the abnormal proliferation of a fertilized egg. When the fetus is normal, the placenta rarely shows abnormalities. Over 80% of molar pregnancies are not cancerous, 15% can invade surrounding tissues (invasive mole), and 2% to 3% are choriocarcinoma, which can spread throughout the body. Women in their 30s to 40s have the highest risk of developing molar pregnancy. In the United States, there is approximately one molar pregnancy for every 2,000 pregnancies, while the incidence rate among Asian women is almost ten times higher, though the exact reason is still unclear.