Hydatidiform Mole-Complete and Partial Hydatidiform Mole-Difference

Hydatidiform mole:
Hydatidiform mole is a disease of pregnancy. It is characterized by the appearance of a voluminous mass of swollen and sometimes, cystically dilated chorionic villi appearing grossly as grape-like structure.

There are two types of Hydatidiform mole

• Complete Hydatidiform mole
• Partial Hydatidiform mole

Complete Hydatidiform mole:

It never allows embryogenesis, therefore, it never contains fetal part. The villi are diploid (46 XX or rarely 46 XY). It occurs result from abnormal fertilization. It occurs when an empty egg is fertilized by two sperms (or a diploid sperm) resulting in an abnormal diploid embryo.

All the villi are abnormal.

Partial Hydatidiform mole:

It is compatible with embryogenesis. Therefore, some fetal parts are present. It is always triploid (46 XXY). It occurs when a normal haploid egg is fertilized by two sperms (or by a diploid sperm) which result in the formation of a triploid ( 46 XXY) embryo. Some of the villi are normal in this case.

Difference Between Complete and Partial Hydatidiform Mole

Features	Complete Hydatidiform Mole	Partial Hyadatidiform Mole
Karyotype	Diploid (46XX or 46XY)	Always Triploid (46 XXY)
Chorionic Villi	All are abnormal. All villi are edematous	Some villi are normal. Not all villi are edematous.
Trophoblastic Proliferation	Diffuse and circumferential.	Focal and slight
Atypia	Often Present	Absent
Serum hcg	More elevated	Less elevated
Hcg in tissues	5 times higher as compared to partial mole	5 times lesser  as compared to the amount of hcg in tissue in complete mole
Behavior.	2 % lead to choriocarcinoma	Rare choriocarcinoma