Hydatidiform mole (gestational trophoblastic disease)

Exam relevance: in 5 of 197 board exam reports · rank 101

Synonyms
molar pregnancy, hydatidiform mole
Specialty
Obstetrics · Early pregnancy
Images
Ultrasound 3 · Endoscopy & gross 3
Exam relevance
5 of 197 reports · rank 101
In the app
1 flashcards · GynFuchs
Last updated
10/2026 · Dr. Pascal Bafteh
Contents
  1. Images (6)
  2. Classification
  3. Clinical features
  4. Keep learning in the app
  5. Further reading (selection)
  6. Cross-references

Images (6)

Hydatidiform mole (gestational trophoblastic disease) – Ultrasound: Snowstorm appearance: the honeycomb internal pattern of a molar placenta on ultrasound (Photo: Abou Chakra R, Arab W, El Kassis N, Nassar M, El Ghoul K, Atallah D. (Case reports in …Ultrasound
Snowstorm appearance: the honeycomb internal pattern of a molar placenta on ultrasound (Photo: Abou Chakra R, Arab W, El Kassis N, Nassar M, El Ghoul K, Atallah D. (Case reports in …Image: Abou Chakra R, Arab W, El Kassis N, Nassar M, El Ghoul K, Atallah D. (Case reports in obstetrics and gynecology 2026) · CC BY 4.0 · Source
Hydatidiform mole (gestational trophoblastic disease) – Endoscopy & grossEndoscopy & gross
Image: Ed Uthman from Houston, TX, USA (Wikimedia Commons) · CC BY 2.0 · Source
Hydatidiform mole (gestational trophoblastic disease) – Ultrasound: Transvaginal ultrasound of a molar pregnancy: a vesicular, grape-like pattern filling the cavityUltrasound
Transvaginal ultrasound of a molar pregnancy: a vesicular, grape-like pattern filling the cavityImage: Mikael Häggström (Wikimedia Commons) · CC0 · Source
Hydatidiform mole (gestational trophoblastic disease) – Endoscopy & grossEndoscopy & gross
Image: Ed Uthman from Houston, TX, USA (Wikimedia Commons) · CC BY 2.0 · Source
Hydatidiform mole (gestational trophoblastic disease) – UltrasoundUltrasound
Image: Mme Mim (Wikimedia Commons) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source
Hydatidiform mole (gestational trophoblastic disease) – Endoscopy & grossEndoscopy & gross
Image: Xiang Y, Zhang W, Chen D, Luo T. (Case reports in women's health 2026) · CC BY 4.0 · Source
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Classification

Classification and pathogenesis

  • A distinction is made between partial and complete hydatidiform moles and gestational trophoblastic neoplasias, which include the invasive mole, choriocarcinoma, placental site trophoblastic tumour, and the epithelioid trophoblastic tumour.
  • The complete hydatidiform mole is genetically diploid, purely paternal and typically shows no fetal parts.
  • In contrast, the partial mole is triploid with 2 paternal sets and fetal parts may be detectable.

Clinical features

Clinical features and diagnosis

  • Clinical signs include bleeding in the first trimester, a uterus that is large for gestational age, hyperemesis, theca lutein cysts, and occasionally hyperthyroidism via hCG cross-reaction.
  • Ultrasound classically shows a "snowstorm" or honeycomb pattern in the uterine cavity.

Keep learning in the app

In the GynFuchs app you can learn Hydatidiform mole (gestational trophoblastic disease) with flashcards, exam questions and image tasks (colposcopy, ultrasound, CTG) – free, in your browser or as an app.

In the app: 1 flashcards on this topic

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Further reading (selection)

  1. StatPearls: Hydatidiform Mole (NCBI Bookshelf)
  2. StatPearls: Gestational Trophoblastic Disease (NCBI Bookshelf)
  3. DocCheck Flexikon, Blasenmole

Cross-references

More topics: Early pregnancy

Note: Learning content from the GynFuchs app (flashcards, exam questions, image cases) for medical education – not a treatment recommendation and no substitute for diagnosis or treatment decisions in individual cases. Treatment and management are deliberately not covered on this page.