Image analysis DNA densitometry measurements on complete and partial hydatidiform mole and nonmolar products of...

Most spontaneous first trimester abortions have an abnormal karyotype, some being triploid; the latter are said to show characteristic histological changes, including focal villous hydropic change, focal trophoblast hyperplasia, cisternal cavitation of larger villi, irregular outline to villi, and trophoblast inclusions. To date, DNA-ploidy profiles have been derived from flow cytometry and cytogenetic karyotyping, both methods being time-consuming and expensive. This study has assessed DNA ploidy on products of conception using a simple video image analysis system. It is concluded that diploid, triploid, aneuploid, and hyperdiploid states can be ascertained on archival paraffin-embedded material using interactive image analysis morphometry. However, the stated histological criteria for triploidy (which has previously been equated with partial mole) appear to be unreliable, with only three of eight histological partial moles having this DNA pattern. In addition, there were six diploid, five triploid, seven hyperdiploid, and two aneuploid DNA ploidy profiles in the spontaneous nonmolar pregnancies. We found that of the 11 complete moles, five were aneuploid and six were hyperdiploid, with none being either diploid or triploid. This finding is contrary to the commonly held view that all complete moles have a diploid DNA profile.