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Epidemiology of Gestational Trophoblastic Diseases

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Book cover Gestational Trophoblastic Disease

Part of the book series: Clinical Perspectives in Obstetrics and Gynecology ((CPOG))

Abstract

The gestational trophoblastic diseases have, until recently, attracted relatively little attention from epidemiologists. The many descriptive studies that have been conducted over the last four decades have helped to define the geographic distribution of these diseases and have provided evidence for a large number of potential risk factors. In general these studies, while serving to generate new and interesting hypotheses, have not been designed to adequately evaluate the significance of these disease associations, or to consider the question of interrelationships between the various factors. The testing of hypotheses requires a different approach, such as the traditional casecontrol design, which compares the data obtained from women included in a case series to those obtained from a carefully selected control group, and it is only in the last few years that full-scale case-control studies on the trophoblastic diseases have been undertaken. A major stimulus to renewed activity has come from recent insights into the biology and genetics of hydatidiform moles, which have served to better define the pathological entities of complete and partial moles. Knowledge of the cellular mechanisms involved has naturally led to questions concerning possible environmental or familial (genetic) factors that may be associated with, or predispose to, the observed events.

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Authors
  1. Jonathan Buckley
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Magee Womens Hospital, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 15213, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Aron E. Szulman M.B., Ch.B., FRCPath (Professor of Pathology) (Professor of Pathology)

  2. Magee Womens Hospital, University of Pittsburgh, 15213, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Herbert J. Buchsbaum M.D. (Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology) (Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology)

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© 1987 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.

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Buckley, J. (1987). Epidemiology of Gestational Trophoblastic Diseases. In: Szulman, A.E., Buchsbaum, H.J. (eds) Gestational Trophoblastic Disease. Clinical Perspectives in Obstetrics and Gynecology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-4698-5_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-4698-5_2

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-9119-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4612-4698-5

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