An invasive mole with pulmonary metastases in a 55-year-old postmenopausal Syrian woman: a case report and review of the literature.

BACKGROUND: Invasive mole is a subtype of gestational trophoblastic neoplasms (GTNs) that usually develops from the malignant transformation of trophoblastic tissue after molar evacuation. Invasive moles mostly occur in women of reproductive age, while they are extremely rare in postmenopausal women. CASE PRESENTATION: We present the case of a 55-year-old postmenopausal Syrian woman who was admitted to the emergency department at our hospital due to massive vaginal bleeding for 10 days accompanied by constant abdominal pain with diarrhea and vomiting. Following clinical, laboratory and radiological examination, total hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy was performed. Histologic examination of the resected specimens revealed the diagnosis of an invasive mole with pulmonary metastases that were diagnosed by chest computed tomography (CT). Following surgical resection, the patient was scheduled for combination chemotherapy. However, 2 weeks later the patient was readmitted to the emergency department due to severe hemoptysis and dyspnea, and later that day the patient died in spite of resuscitation efforts. CONCLUSION: Although invasive moles in postmenopausal women have been reported previously, we believe our case is the first reported from Syria. Our case highlights the difficulties in diagnosing invasive moles in the absence of significant history of gestational trophoblastic diseases. The present study further reviews the diagnostic methods, histological characteristics and treatment recommendations.

Sudden death due to an invasive mole in a young primigravida: Precipitous presentation masquerading the natural manner.

Pulmonary metastasis is a well-known complication of an invasive mole. However, sudden death due to haemoptysis resulting from a metastatic invasive mole is extremely rare. We report the sudden unexpected death of an 18-year-old primigravida following a molar pregnancy. The death event was complicated within a few days of presentation by a clinically unsuspected mole invading the lung vasculature with associated widespread metastatic calcifications in the liver and brain. Death was due to haemorrhagic shock as a result of massive haemoptysis resulting from the invasive mole metastasising to the pulmonary vasculature. This was substantiated with a post-mortem computed tomography and gross and histopathological findings at autopsy. This case highlights the need for a high index of suspicion about potentially life-threatening pulmonary metastasis in women with trophoblastic diseases.

A metastatic invasive mole arising from iatrogenic uterus perforation.

BACKGROUND: Invasive mole derives from hydatidiform mole, but its pathogenesis remains unknown. Invasive mole arising from iatrogenic uterine perforation has not been reported yet. CASE PRESENTATION: A reproductive woman was admitted because she suffered form severe abdominal pain and acute intra-abdominal hemorrhage after suction evacuation due to misdiagnosis as inevitable abortion. The patient underwent hysteroscopy and laparoscopy, by which an iatrogenic uterine perforation and omentum and pelvic peritoneum metastases were confirmed. All lesions were removed and the final pathological diagnosis was metastatic invasive mole. The patient underwent post-operative chemotherapy with methotrexate and presented a good prognosis. CONCLUSION: Invasive mole arising form iatrogenic uterine perforation displays an unusual metastatic manner other than general invasive moles. The prevention of uterine perforation should be emphasized during suction evacuation for mole pregnancy.

Methotrexate and actinomycin D chemotherapy in a patient with porphyria: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Despite their broadly recommended use as chemotherapeutic agents, the porphyrogenicity of methotrexate and actinomycin D have not been confirmed. Accordingly, it is not known whether these agents are safe for use in patients with porphyria. CASE PRESENTATION: In this report, we present a case of an invasive mole with lung metastasis in a 49-year-old Japanese woman who had previously been diagnosed with acute intermittent porphyria at 27 years of age but had no recent history of acute intermittent porphyria attacks. Her serum human chorionic gonadotropin level was elevated 1 month after hysterectomy, and she was referred to our center for chemotherapy. After she received 100 mg of methotrexate, drug eruptions were observed starting on day 3 and grew progressively worse. Erythema and mucosal erosion spread throughout her body, whereupon she was administered prednisolone. In addition, our patient experienced febrile neutropenia and required granulocyte colony- stimulating factor treatment. No changes in our patient's urinary coproporphyrin or uroporphyrin levels were detected during this entire episode. Methotrexate was replaced by actinomycin D (0.5 mg/body intravenously on days 1-5 every 2 weeks). After five uneventful cycles of actinomycin D, our patient achieved and maintained a normal serum human chorionic gonadotropin level for 3 years. CONCLUSIONS: Methotrexate and actinomycin D did not induce acute porphyric attacks in this patient with acute intermittent porphyria; however, severe adverse effects were noted with methotrexate. Although further investigation is required, our data suggest that these agents are nonporphyrinogenic and can therefore be used to treat patients with comorbid porphyria.

Sonographic appearance of an advanced invasive mole and associated metastatic thrombus in the inferior vena cava.

We present a case of an advanced invasive mole with a metastatic thrombus in the inferior vena cava in which sonography clearly showed vesicles in the myometrium, ovaries, and metastatic thrombus leading to a diagnosis of invasive mole rather than choriocarcinoma.

Prognosis of malignant gestational trophoblastic neoplasia: 20 years of experience.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze retrospectively the management and prognosis of malignant gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN) patients treated at Peking Union Medical College (PUMC) Hospital from 1985 to 2005. STUDY DESIGN: From 1985 to 2005 1,130 GTN patients were treated at PUMC Hospital. Management and prognosis were analyzed retrospectively. The analyses of prognostic factors were performed by using univariate and multivariate analyses. RESULTS: Among the 1,130 patients 903 (80.0%) achieved complete remission (CR), 187 (16.5%) partial remission (PR) and 40 (3.5%) died of progress of the disease (PD). Among the CR patients, 31 (3.4%) relapsed later. Of the 187 PR patients, 155 (82.0%) had normal beta-hCG titer but with residual tumor in the lung or other organs. Among them, 6 patients with choriocarcinoma experienced PD after treatment. One hundred thirty-nine patients became pregnant during follow-up, with a total of 159 pregnancies. Among them, abnormal pregnancy rate was 16.4%, molar rate was 3.1% and fetal abnormality rate was 1.6%. CONCLUSION: Most GTN patients can be cured completely with timely and appropriate chemotherapy treatment. In select cases, surgery should be performed to obtain a better curative outcome. Patients whose residual metastatic tumors remain unchanged after beta-hCG returns to normal are assumed to have CR. We recommend that patients postpone pregnancy for at least 12 months after chemotherapy.

A case of metastasizing invasive hydatidiform mole. Is less--less good? Review of the literature with regard to adequate treatment.

BACKGROUND: Patients with invasive hydatidiform moles (IHM) have a good prognosis. Even if disease has spread, monocytostatic treatment might be sufficient if the diagnosis has been histologically confirmed. Established classifications divide gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD) including choriocarcinoma into cases with "high" and "low" risk. Without respect to histology "high-risk" cases are recommended to obtain polychemotherapy. CASE: A 40-year-old nullipara underwent hysterectomy for persistent vaginal bleeding after she had already been treated with curettage for hydatidiform mole. An IHM was pathohistologically confirmed. There were no signs of pulmonary spread or other metastases at the time of surgery. Postsurgically persistent beta-hCG levels lead to thorough staging, which revealed multiple pulmonary metastases and a vaginal metastasis. Despite metastasizing GTD with poor prognosis criteria she was treated with single agent therapy. Eight cycles of two weekly methotrexate (MTX) were administered. All sites of metastases responded and our patient is still fine after one year of follow-up. CONCLUSION: With respect to this and other reports monochemotherapy can be a reasonable primary treatment for metastatic IHM.

[Evaluation of surgical resection of pulmonary metastasis of trophoblastic tumour].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the role of lung lobectomy in the patients of tumor with lung metastases. METHODS: A total of 45 cases of trophoblastic tumor with pulmonary metastases treated by lung lobectomy from 1985-2002 at PUMC hospital was retrospectively analyzed. Seven cases were diagnosed as invasive mole and thirty-eight as choriocarcinoma. RESULTS: Lung lobectomy was performed in all of these patients after several courses of chemotherapy. Seven cases of invasive mole reached complete remission. Eleven cases of choriocarcinoma with stage IIIa had received average 13 courses of chemotherapy, 10 of them reached complete remission. Seventeen cases of choriocarcinoma with stage IIIb had received average 14.3 courses of chemotherapy, 11 of them reached complete remission. Ten cases of choriocarcinoma with stage IV had received average 15 courses of chemotherapy, six of them reached complete remission. In the 45 patients, histologic examination disclosed haemorrhagic necrotic tissue in 27 patients, 17 of them reached complete remission (63%). Histologic examination also revealed fibrosis around the focus in 16 patients, 14 of them reached complete remission (88%). Tuberculosis was found in 2 patients. CONCLUSIONS: Although the development of effective chemotherapy has resulted in improved survival of patients with gestational trophoblastic tumor, lung lobectomy remains an important adjunct treatment in a selected subset of patients. Pathological examinations can help to estimate the prognosis.

Forty-five year's experience of the treatment of choriocarcinoma and invasive mole.

Our work was begun in 1949. through many yera's effort, several chemicals (such as 6 MP, 5 FU and others) were found to be effective for the treatment of choriocarcinoma (C.C.) and invasive mole (I.M.). From 1959 through 1985, 1500 patients were consecutively treated. The mortality rate of CC was reduced from > 90% to < 20%. No more death occurred in IM. All Survivors followed up for 10-38 years showed no evidence of residual disease. 80% of the young patients treated with chemotherapy alone conceived after recovery. The pregnancy outcome showed no deviation from that of the general population. All children are growing up normally many married and gave birth to normal third generations. The results indicated that chemotherapy with 5 FU achieves not only a complete remission, but also a cure, even with wide-spread metastases. The results of choriocarcinoma and invasive mole treated with mainly 5 FU were reported. The clinical experience in the management of metastases at different sites were also summarized.

Angiographic-guided embolization of metastatic invasive mole.

BACKGROUND: The friable and hypervascular nature of a metastatic invasive mole places the patient at risk for significant hemorrhage. Bleeding is the chief cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with a histopathological diagnosis of invasive mole. Bleeding from vaginal metastatic lesions can be controlled by packing the vagina and local excision if necessary. Often the results are less than satisfactory. CASE: This case describes a 43-year-old Hispanic female with metastatic invasive mole to the vagina. Following chemotherapy, she underwent life-threatening hemorrhage requiring hospitalization and multiple transfusions. The metastatic lesions were successfully embolized with gelfoam by selective angiography. The patient required minimal additional chemotherapy and is currently without evidence of disease. CONCLUSIONS: The technique of angiographic embolization is emerging as a successful and minimally invasive procedure as illustrated in this presentation. Prophylactic embolization with or prior to the administration of chemotherapy in the management of metastatic invasive mole is discussed and may play a role in the primary therapy of this condition.

Invasive mole presenting as a spinal extradural tumor: case report.

The most common sites of metastatic lesions that are caused by an invasive mole are lung, liver, and brain. Spinal spread is very rare. We present a 24-year-old patient with paraparesis that was caused by an extradural spinal invasive mole. Surgery, for decompression and biopsy, and subsequent chemotherapy resulted in complete recovery.

Treatment of malignant trophoblastic tumors. An analysis of 209 cases.

From 1948 to 1985, a total of 630 cases of choriocarcinoma and invasive mole were treated in our hospital. The methods of treatment varied in different periods of time. In the third period (1972-1985), 5 Fu and/or KSM were the main therapeutic agents used in the treatment of 110 cases of choriocarcinoma and 99 cases of invasive mole. Metastases were observed in more than 90% of cases of choriocarcinoma and nearly 1/4 belonged to stage IV. The mortality of choriocarcinoma decreased from 84.3% to 32.7% after treatment and that of invasive mole from 32.4% to 8.1%. 43 of 80 patients treated with chemotherapy alone conceived after recovery, resulting in a total of 50 pregnancies including 31 term deliveries by 28 women. All the children are normal and healthy, the eldest being 11 years old now.

[Post-chemotherapeutic X-ray follow-up of residual shadow of pulmonary metastasis from malignant trophoblastic tumor].

Among one hundred and eighteen cases of malignant trophoblastic tumor with pulmonary metastasis treated by chemotherapy, residual shadow on the X-ray films was seen in 18 (15%). Strict long follow-up observation of blood HCG and X-ray film indicated that the residual shadow spontaneously resorbed in 11 cases giving a survival of 3-5 years. The residual shadow showed no change in 1 case. Recurrence developed and repeated chemotherapy showed no response in 3. For the other 3, they were treated with lobectomy or local radiotherapy, 2 of whom survived for over 3 years and 1 died of mediastinal metastasis. The results suggest that the residual shadow can be resorbed with time in the majority of cases. Repeated Chemotherapy is undesirable.

[Radiotherapy for brain metastasis of malignant trophoblastic tumor].

From 1982 to 1985, 26 patients with malignant trophoblastic tumor were treated. Of them, 8 patients developed brain metastasis. Seven out of these 8 patients were treated with 60Co whole brain radiotherapy. The total dose on the longitudinal mid-plane of brain was 3300 cGy/2-3 weeks. Four patients were cured, 3 of them have survived without recurrence or sequelae for 6.5, 6 and 4.5 years, respectively; the other one died of liver metastasis 1 year after radiotherapy. Radiotherapy is an effective method in the combined treatment for brain metastasis of malignant trophoblastic tumors.

Clinical problems of invasive hydatidiform mole in patients aged 40 or more.

Seventy-six patients with invasive hydatidiform mole (HM) were reviewed as to clinical course, particularly treatment and outcome, in relation to their age. The results were as follows: (i) metastatic cases showed approximately a twofold increase in patients over 40 compared with younger patients, (ii) more courses of chemotherapy were required to achieve a cure in patients over 40 than in younger patients and (iii) 4 of 19 patients (21.1%) over 40 developed choriocarcinoma, whereas none of younger patients did.