Importance of the genetics in the diagnostics of hydatidiform mole.

OBJECTIVE

To summarize the possibilities of the genetic analysis of hydatidiform moles and point out its perspectives in the diagnostics of this disease.

DESIGN

Review.

SETTING

Institute of Medical Biology, Genetics and Clinical Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovak Republic.

METHODS

Analysis of published literature data from the internet databases PubMed, ScienceDirect, Scopus and printed literature from the period 1963-2019.

RESULTS

This review refers on karyotyping, flow cytometry, FISH (Fluorescent in Situ Hybridization), VNTR-RFLP analysis (Variable Number of Tandem Repeats-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism), VNTR-PCR analysis (Variable Number of Tandem Repeats-Polymerase Chain Reaction) and STR (Short Tandem Repeat) genotyping of hydatidiform moles. The article summarizes possible application of these methods in the differential diagnostics of molar pregnancy (partial and complete hydatidiform moles) and nonmolar hydropic abortions.

CONCLUSION

Genetic analyses offer precise identification of types of molar pregnancies when histopathological diagnosis is not clear during early stages of pathology.