Abstract
To estimate the prevalence of gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD) in the western region of Saudi Arabia, and to evaluate the success of treatment and the effect of age and risk group on survival.
Between January 2001 and December 2010, all patients treated for GTD were identified from the King Abdulaziz University Hospital database. Patients with persistent disease were evaluated according to their clinical treatment outcomes.
In total, 122 cases of GTD were identified in the database. Of these, 77 (63%) cases were diagnosed and received initial treatment at the study centre, resulting in an incidence of 1.26 cases per 1000 deliveries. The mean (±standard deviation) age of the study participants was 31.52 ± 10.8 years, mean gestational age at diagnosis was 12.42 ± 3.2 weeks, and mean follow-up for each patient was 24 months. There were 20 cases (26%) of persistent GTD after treatment. The majority of patients with low-risk disease were treated with single-agent methotrexate, with an overall success rate of 83%. The overall 5-year survival rate for all patients was 98%. Using the Wilcoxon (Gehan) test, risk group and age (cut-off 40 years) were not found to be significantly associated with survival (p=0.69).
This single-institute study reports the first survival data for GTD for Saudi Arabia. However, the overall incidence of GTD in Saudi Arabia will be defined by establishment of a GTD registry.