hemophagocytosis
- noun
- /ˌhiːmoʊˌfæɡəˌsaɪtəˈsoʊsɪs/
- Specialized
- Hemophagocytosis occurs when the immune system mistakenly engulfs red blood cells, leading to anemia.
Examples
-
Doctors diagnosed him with hemophagocytosis after his blood tests showed abnormal cell destruction.
-
Trophozoites showed characteristic hemophagocytosis, which is specific for E. histolytica infection (Figure 2, panel A).
Academic text (2012) -
The possibility of hemophagocytosis was considered, and a bone
Academic text (2014) -
The patient's symptoms worsened due to hemophagocytosis, which severely affected his overall health.
Synonyms
2
8.8
The breaking of red blood cells that releases hemoglobin into the blood
Red blood cells break open and let the red part of blood flow into the fluid around them
Surface Forms
Morphology
hemophagocytosis = phagocytosis (semi-transparent) = hemo + phagocytosis
The structure is clearly hemo- + phagocytosis and the meaning ('phagocytosis of blood cells') is compositional, but both elements are technical combining forms unfamiliar to average learners.
Etymology
Hemophagocytosis comes from parts meaning 'blood' (hemo-), 'eat' (phago-), 'cell' (cyto-) and 'a condition' (-osis). So it literally means a condition where some body cells 'eat' blood cells, which is why the word names the medical process in which cells engulf and destroy blood cells.