Molar pregnancy is an abnormal form of pregnancy, wherein a non-viable, fertilized egg implants in the uterus, and thereby converting normal pregnancy processes into pathological ones. It's characterized by the presence of a hydatidiform mole (or hydatid mole, mola hytadidosa). Molar pregnancies are categorized into partial and complete moles; complete moles have no identifiable embryonic or fetal tissues and arise when an empty egg with no nucle...
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Molar pregnancy is an abnormal form of pregnancy, wherein a non-viable, fertilized egg implants in the uterus, and thereby converting normal pregnancy processes into pathological ones. It's characterized by the presence of a hydatidiform mole (or hydatid mole, mola hytadidosa). Molar pregnancies are categorized into partial and complete moles; complete moles have no identifiable embryonic or fetal tissues and arise when an empty egg with no nucleus is fertilized by a normal sperm; in contrast, a partial mole occurs when a normal egg is fertilized by two spermatozoa. Hydatidiform moles may develop into choriocarcinoma, a form of cancer.
The etymology is derived from hydatis (Greek "a drop of water"), referring to the watery contents of the cysts, and mole (from Latin mola = millstone/false conception). The term, however, comes from the similar appearance of the cyst to a hydatid cyst in an Echinococcosis. A hydatidiform mole conception is sometimes referred to colloquially as an...
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