cytopenia
- noun
- /ˌsaɪtəˈpiːniə/
- Specialized
:
citopenia
- After her treatment, she was diagnosed with cytopenia, which caused a reduction in her red blood cells.
Examples
-
The doctor explained that cytopenia can lead to increased fatigue and a higher risk of infections.
-
Cytopenia often requires careful monitoring to prevent complications related to low blood cell counts.
-
Side effects, including nausea, vomiting, and cytopenia, may be overcome by the development of local forms of imatinib mesylate.
Academic text (2012)
Synonyms
5
3.5
A health problem that affects the blood, like anemia or leukemia
Antonyms
- Specialized
An unusually large number of cells in a body part, often showing disease
Surface Forms
Morphology
cytopenia = cyto + penia
The word is formed from medical combining forms 'cyto-' (cell) + '-penia' (deficiency), which are not transparent to average B1 learners and thus the meaning cannot be derived from familiar standalone English words.
Etymology
Cytopenia comes from Greek parts cyto- from 'kytos' meaning 'cell', the same idea as the English word 'cell', and -penia meaning 'lack' or 'poverty'. So cytopenia is a 'lack of cells', which is why it names a low cell count in the blood.