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| a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison. |
| an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle. |
hemolysis he·mol·y·sis (hĭ-mŏl'ĭ-sĭs, hē'mə-lī'sĭs) or he·ma·tol·y·sis (hē'mə-tŏl'ĭ-sĭs)
n.
The destruction or dissolution of red blood cells, with release of hemoglobin. Also called erythrocytolysis, erythrolysis.
| hemolysis (hĭ-mŏl'ĭ-sĭs, hē'mə-lī'sĭs) Pronunciation Key
The destruction of red blood cells, caused by disruption of the cell membrane and resulting in the release of hemoglobin. Hemolysis is seen in some types of anemia, which can be either inherited or acquired, as by exposure to toxins or by the presence of antibodies that attack red blood cells. hemolytic adjective |
hemolysis
breakdown or destruction of red blood cells so that the contained hemoglobin is freed into the surrounding medium. Antibody (lysin) attaches to the red cell but cannot cause bursting in the absence of a normal blood component called complement. Apart from normal breakdown of aged red blood cells, hemolysis is abnormal in the living but may be caused by inherited defects in the blood cells (e.g., hereditary spherocytosis, thalassemia), by chemicals, venoms, the toxic products of microorganisms, transfusion of the wrong blood type, or Rh incompatibility of fetal and maternal blood, a condition called erythroblastosis fetalis. It is a major finding in hemolytic anemia.
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