In case if a woman is diagnosed with a molar pregnancy, she will have to undergo a D&C (dilation and curettage) or suction curettage in order to have the abnormal tissue removed from the uterus. This procedure may be performed either under general or under local anesthesia; however, it is also possible for a woman to be sedated intravenously. During the D&C procedure, the doctor inserts a speculum into the woman’s vagina, cleans the cervix as well as vagina with an antiseptic solution, and after that he dilates the cervix with the help of narrow metal rods. Then a plastic hollow tube is passed through the cervix and the tissue is sucked from the woman’s uterus. And, the final step of this procedure is gentle scraping the rest of the tissue from the wall of the uterus with the help of a special spoon – shaped instrument, which is called a curette. 

The very D&C procedure is to be conducted with extreme care; otherwise there is the risk development of excessive bleeding and / or blood clots in the lungs, which may even become the reason of a woman’s death. After the D&C procedure, the placental tissue is sent to the pathologist, who makes the final diagnosis. Then the levels of hCG and, sometimes, a thyroid level are to be obtained. In extremely rare cases, when a woman has carried her pregnancy to term and delivered, a hysterectomy becomes preferable.
As a rule a woman have a chest X – ray after the abnormal tissue has been removed from the uterus. This is conducted with the aim to see if any abnormal cells from the molar pregnancy have spread to the woman’s lungs or not. Though, it is not often that these cells get spread to other parts of the body, however, in case if they do, lungs are considered to be the most common location.

The levels of hCG are to be monitored as often as about once a week, so, that the doctor would make sure that it is declining. This is the indication that there is no molar tissue remained. As soon as the level of hCG goes down to zero, and it remains stable for several weeks in a row, a woman is still to have it checked every month or two for the next year.

In case if a woman decides not to get pregnant again, she might have a hysterectomy conducted instead of a D&C, as this procedure lowers the risk of remaining of any abnormal tissue significantly. It should also be noted, that most women after 40, who have suffered from a complete molar pregnancy, are most often offered to have hysterectomy, as they are at particular risk.

In about 2 percent of women, who have had a partial molar pregnancy and 10 percent of women, suffering from a complete molar pregnancy, abnormal cell remain after the removal of the tissue. In case if the hCG level drops and then increases again, it may be considered to be a signal that the molar pregnancy has grown from the microscopic cells in the wall of the uterus into the larger cells. There is the risk of these cells’ acting like a cancer cells, and even metastasizing to some other organs, like bones, lungs, brain, and vagina.