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pancytopenia

pancytopenia

9.9
A large drop in all types of blood cells when bone marrow cannot make them
  • noun
  • /ˌpænˌsaɪtəˈpiːniə/
  • Specialized
translation icon : pancitopenia
  • SP's hospital course was complicated by sepsis requiring volume infusion and vasopressors, pancytopenia requiring multiple blood product transfusions, and pericardial effusion.

Examples

  • The disease, characterized by progressive pancytopenia, infiltrations of bone marrow, and hepato- and splenomegaly, is generally due to BRAF mutation, mostly BRAFV600E 165.

    Academic text (2017)
  • He developed fever, pneumonia, and pancytopenia, at which time he elected to discontinue TPN.

    Academic text (1998)
  • The doctor explained that pancytopenia is caused by a reduction in red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets.

  • Patients with pancytopenia often experience symptoms like fatigue and increased risk of infections.

  • She was diagnosed with pancytopenia after a blood test showed low levels of all blood cell types.

Compounds

9.9

A birth condition where the soft inside of bones does not make enough blood cells

Surface Forms

pancytopenia singular
pancytopenias plural

Morphology

pancytopenia = cytopenia (opaque) = pan + cyto + penia

The formation pan- + cytopenia is formally regular, but the combining forms 'cyto-' and '-penia' are medical/technical and not transparent to average learners.

Etymology

Pancytopenia comes from parts that mean 'all' (pan-), 'cell' (cyto-) and 'lack' (-penia), as in pandemic for 'all' and the everyday word 'cell' for cyto-. So pancytopenia literally means a 'lack of all cells', which is why it describes a low number of all types of blood cells.