In order to further elucidate the pattern of detection found in the patients'
serum, an immunohistochemistry (IHC) assay was established.
IHC was performed on 9 samples, 5 from the hGH-V serum-positive
and 4 fromthe serum-negative group, including all GTD entities. hGH-V
could be localized to the syncytiotrophoblast in all 9 cases regardless of
hGH-V detection in the serum.
The pattern of distribution was linear with cytoplasmic staining and
nuclear sparing (see Fig. 2). This pattern is in accordance with the pattern
previously described in placental tissue [5–7].