Epidemiology of trophoblast disease in Africa--Lagos

Trophoblast neoplasm cases at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital in the two-year period, 1980-1981, have been reviewed. An apparent increased incidence of 1 in 184 deliveries for hydatidiform mole and 1 in 299 deliveries for choriocarcinoma has been noted when compared with a previous review. An association of hydatidiform mole with age and parity was observed in this study. Among patients with hydatidiform mole, 27 percent also had pseudotoxemia and in one case this progressed to eclampsia. In the case of choriocarcinoma, increased parity appears to be associated with a higher mortality. The relatively higher mortality of 31 percent from this study could be related to the long duration of symptoms before diagnosis and treatment, and a plea is made to the general medical practitioners for a better referral system, although the need to create an increased awareness of the clinical symptoms of this disease in the community is also very much desirable. A collaborative study of the epidemiology of this disease in Nigeria is advocated.