Colour flow Doppler for gestational trophoblastic neoplasia

Twenty-five consecutive patients referred to the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm, because of gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN) had colour flow Doppler performed. The examinations were performed transabdominally in the initial ten patients and transvaginally thereafter. Tumour vessels within the uterus were detected in eighteen patients (72%). A negative colour Doppler finding in patients with persistent disease could imply a diagnosis of choriocarcinoma rather than invasive mole, but all five patients belonging to this group responded promptly to chemotherapy. There seems to be a rough correlation between extent of uterine disease, as judged by colour flow Doppler, and response to chemotherapy.