lymphopenia

1 9.9

A lower than normal number of lymphocytes, the white blood cells that fight infection, in the blood

noun
/ˌlɪmfoʊˈpiːniə/

Specialized

: linfopenia

Doctors diagnosed her with lymphopenia after noticing an abnormally low count of lymphocytes in her blood.

Examples

The blood test showed that he was suffering from lymphopenia, with very few lymphocytes in his sample.
White cell count was 6.5 x 10^9/l with a lymphopenia of 0.26 x 10^9/l.

Academic text (2007)
And what he found was that just as has been reported in the mice, human T cells also undergo this sort of lymphopenia driven expansion.
Early lymphopenia (lymphocytes <1,000 cells/mL) occurred in 5 patients, and thrombocytopenia (platelets <150,000/mL) in 4.

Academic text (2015)
Due to lymphopenia, the patient is more susceptible to infections and needs careful monitoring.

Synonyms

leukopenia

vslymphopenia

Specialized

1 9.8

A low number of white blood cells in the blood, making infections more likely

refers only to low lymphocyte counts rather than all white blood cells

lymphocytopenia

vslymphopenia

Specialized

1 9.9

A health problem in which the blood has too few lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell

is the shorter medical term for the same condition

Antonyms

lymphocytosis

Specialized

1 9.5

Too many white blood cells called lymphocytes in the blood, often from an infection

How Many

lymphocytosis

Specialized

1 9.5

lymphopenia

Specialized

1 9.9

Surface Forms

lymphopenia singular

lymphopenias plural

Morphology

lymphopenia = lymph (semi-transparent) = lymph + penia

Formally transparent medical formation (lymph + -penia = deficiency of lymph/lymphocytes), but '-penia' is a technical combining form unfamiliar to most intermediate learners.

Etymology

Lymphopenia comes from lymph ('a clear body fluid that helps fight infection') and -penia ('lack'). So lymphopenia means a 'lack' of lymph cells in the blood, which explains why it describes a low number of lymphocytes.