[On the follow up period of postmolar patient (author's transl)].

We discussed how long should postmole patients be followed up by the analysis of 44 cases of postmolar invasive mole and 14 cases of postmolar choriocarcinoma treated in our hospital between 1971 and 1979. All of the invasive mole have been detected before their urinary hCG titer fell below normal pituitary LH level and by the 5 th month after the termination of molar pregnancy. While only 2 cases out of 14 cases of postmolar choriocarcinoma have been detected before their urinary hCG titer fell below LH level and by the 5 th postmole month. The other 12 cases of choriocarcinoma were diagnosed later than the 6 th postmole month. The longest interval between termination of mole and diagnosis of postmolar choriocarcinoma was 7 years and 2 months, the interval of which was also the longest among all of the postmolar choriocarcinoma registered to the Committee of Registration for Trophoblastic Disease in Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology in 1974 through 1978. Therefore from the empirical point of view, the postmole patient should be followed up to 7 years and 2 months at the shortest. Besides almost all of the secondary sequelae after mole which were detected before urinary hCG titer fell below LH level were actually invasive mole (44 cases). Choriocarcinoma (2 cases) in this stage was exceptional (2 cases/46 cases = 4.4%). On the other hand, once the molar patient showed normal LH level in their urinary hCG determination, the secondary sequela was invariably choriocarcinoma. This way of discriminating invasive mole from choriocarcinoma is the key in the management of postmolar patient.