Hydatidiform mole, also known as a molar pregnancy, is a rare complication characterized by abnormal growth of trophoblasts, cells that normally develop in the placenta. During pregnancy, an organ known as the placenta develops in the uterus to provide oxygen and nutrients to the growing baby. This organ also removes waste products from the blood of the growing fetus. During pregnancy the organ attaches to the wall of the uterus.
Now that we know what a placenta is, let us take a look at a molar pregnancy:
type,
There are two types of molar pregnancy that can appear in an expectant mother. The first is a complete molar pregnancy and the second is a partial molar pregnancy. In a complete molar pregnancy, the placental tissue behaves abnormally and swells. In this type, the placenta also starts forming fluid-filled cysts. There is also no formation of fetal tissue in a complete molar pregnancy.
Meanwhile, in a partial molar pregnancy, abnormally formed placental tissue can occur along with normal placental tissue. An embryo may also form, but the embryo does not survive and usually results in a miscarriage early in the pregnancy.
It should be noted that both types are usually benign cell growths and they do not cause cancer.
Women over the age of 35 or under the age of 20 have a higher risk of developing a molar pregnancy. If a woman has had one molar pregnancy, she is more likely to have another. According to the Mayo Clinic, an average of one out of every 100 women has a recurrent molar pregnancy.
Symptoms,
Initially, a molar pregnancy may look like a normal pregnancy but there are specific signs and symptoms that may indicate its presence. According to the Mayo Clinic, these are some of the symptoms that may indicate a molar pregnancy:
- Dark brown to bright red vaginal bleeding during the first trimester
- severe nausea and vomiting
- Sometimes a vaginal tract of grape-like cysts
- pelvic pressure or pain
- rapid uterine growth where the uterus is too large for the stage of pregnancy
- high blood pressure
- preeclampsia, a condition that causes high blood pressure and high protein levels in the urine after 20 weeks of pregnancy
- ovarian vesicle
- Anaemia
- Overactive thyroid (hyperthyroidism)
The cause of molar pregnancy is a mixture at the genetic, DNA, level. In rare cases when an incomplete or empty egg becomes fertilized by a sperm, it ends up with a gene from the father, but none from the mother. This can lead to a molar pregnancy. Conversely, when an imperfect sperm or more than one sperm fertilizes a good egg, it can cause a mole.
read all breaking news , today’s fresh news And IPL 2022 Live Updates Here.