Hydatidiform mole resulting from sexual violence

Background. Hydatidiform mole (HM) is characterized by abnormal proliferation of human trophoblast with producers functioning tissues of human chorionic gonadotropin. It can evolve with ovarian cysts tecaluteínicos, hypertension of pregnancy or hyperthyroidism. The incidence of HM is variable and its etiology poorly known, associated with nutritional factors, environmental, age, parity, history of HM, oral contraceptives, smoking, consanguinity or defects in germ cells. There is no reference in literature on HM resulting from sexual violence, objective of this report. Method. Description of two cases of HM among 1146 patients with pregnancy resulting from sexual violence treated at Hospital Pérola Byington, São Paulo, from July 1994 to August 2011. Results. The cases affected young, white, unmarried, low educated and low parity women. Sexual violence was perpetrated by known offenders unrelated to the victims, under death threat. Ultrasound and CT of the pelvis showed bulky uterus compatible with HM without myometrial invasion. One case was associated with theca lutein cysts. The two cases were diagnosed in the second trimester of pregnancy and evolved with hyperthyroidism. There was no hypertension, disease recurrence, metastasis or sexually transmitted infection. Conclusion. The incidence of HM was 1:573 pregnancies resulting from rape, within the range estimated for Latin American countries. Trophoblastic material can be preserved to identify the violence perpetrator, considering only the paternal HM chromosomes. History of sexual violence should be investigated in cases of HM in the first half of adolescence and women in a vulnerable condition. © 2012 Drezzet et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.