thrombosis
Meaning of thrombosis: Thrombosis is the formation of a blood clot within a blood vessel or the heart, which can partially or completely block blood flow.
Definition of thrombosis
Thrombosis is the process by which a thrombus, or blood clot, forms within a blood vessel or inside a chamber of the heart, rather than as part of the normal clotting response that seals an external wound. The clot forms when platelets, clotting proteins, and blood cells adhere to each other, often triggered by injury to the vessel wall, sluggish blood flow, or an increased tendency of the blood to clot.
Thrombosis can occur within arteries, where it is often associated with the buildup of fatty plaque known as atherosclerosis and can lead to a heart attack or stroke if the clot blocks blood flow to the heart or brain, or within veins, where deep vein thrombosis in the legs is a common example.
A clot formed through venous thrombosis can partially or completely block blood flow at its original site, and a piece of the clot can also break free and travel through the bloodstream, becoming an embolus, most seriously when it lodges in the blood vessels of the lungs.
How thrombosis is built
- thromb/o Combining form · Greek clot, clotting
- -osis Suffix · Greek abnormal condition, increase
A medical term is read from its ending backwards: the suffix first, then the prefix, then the root. See all 223 word parts.
Used in a sentence
Ultrasound confirmed deep vein thrombosis in the patient's leg.
Good to know
A piece of a thrombus that breaks free and travels through the bloodstream is called an embolus rather than a thrombus, a distinction that matters because an embolus can cause damage far from where the original clot formed.
Word origin
Where “thrombosis” comes from
Formed from Greek thrombos, meaning clot or lump.