Thrombocytosis

thrombocytosis

[‚thräm·bō‚sī′tō·səs]

(medicine)

A condition characterized by an increase in the absolute number of thrombocytes in the circulation. Also known as piastrenemia; thrombocythemia.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Thrombocytosis

 

an increase in the number of platelets to more than 400,000 per mm³ in the peripheral blood. It may result from the increased production of platelets in the bone marrow, as in erythremia; from slow lysis of platelets, for example, after surgical removal of the spleen; or from the redistribution of platelets in the bloodstream during physical or mental stress. Thrombocytosis may lead to thrombosis, and occasionally to an increased tendency to bleed owing to disturbance of the microcirculation or to defects in the platelets themselves (thrombocytolytic purpura). Therapy involves treatment of the underlying disease, as well as the prevention of thrombosis.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.