In medicine

Medicine

Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....

, granulocytosis is the presence in peripheral blood of an increased number of granulocyte

Granulocyte

Granulocytes are a category of white blood cells characterized by the presence of granules in their cytoplasm. They are also called polymorphonuclear leukocytes because of the varying shapes of the nucleus, which is usually lobed into three segments...

s, a category of white blood cell

White blood cell

White blood cells, or leukocytes , are cells of the immune system involved in defending the body against both infectious disease and foreign materials. Five different and diverse types of leukocytes exist, but they are all produced and derived from a multipotent cell in the bone marrow known as a...

s. Often, the word refers to an increased neutrophil granulocyte

Neutrophil granulocyte

Neutrophil granulocytes are the most abundant type of white blood cells in mammals and form an essential part of the innate immune system. They are generally referred to as either neutrophils or polymorphonuclear neutrophils , and are subdivided into segmented neutrophils and banded neutrophils...

 count, as neutrophils are the main granulocytes.

Causes

An increase in eosinophil granulocyte

Eosinophil granulocyte

Eosinophil granulocytes, usually called eosinophils or eosinophiles , are white blood cells that are one of the immune system components responsible for combating multicellular parasites and certain infections in vertebrates. Along with mast cells, they also control mechanisms associated with...

 is known as eosinophilia

Eosinophilia

Eosinophilia is a condition in which the eosinophil count in the peripheral blood exceeds 0.45×109/L . A marked increase in non-blood tissue eosinophil count noticed upon histopathologic examination is diagnostic for tissue eosinophilia. Several causes are known, with the most common being...

.

Granulocytosis can be a feature of a number of diseases:

• Infection
  Infection
  An infection is the colonization of a host organism by parasite species. Infecting parasites seek to use the host's resources to reproduce, often resulting in disease...
  
  , especially bacterial
• Malignancy, most notably leukemia
  Leukemia
  Leukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...
  
   (it is the main feature of chronic myelogenous leukemia
  Chronic myelogenous leukemia
  Chronic myelogenous leukemia , also known as chronic granulocytic leukemia , is a cancer of the white blood cells. It is a form of leukemia characterized by the increased and unregulated growth of predominantly myeloid cells in the bone marrow and the accumulation of these cells in the blood...
  
  , CML)
• Autoimmune disease
  Autoimmune disease
  Autoimmune diseases arise from an overactive immune response of the body against substances and tissues normally present in the body. In other words, the body actually attacks its own cells. The immune system mistakes some part of the body as a pathogen and attacks it. This may be restricted to...
  
  

Prognostic relations

In cardiovascular disease

Cardiovascular disease

Heart disease or cardiovascular disease are the class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels . While the term technically refers to any disease that affects the cardiovascular system , it is usually used to refer to those related to atherosclerosis...

, increased white blood cell

White blood cell

White blood cells, or leukocytes , are cells of the immune system involved in defending the body against both infectious disease and foreign materials. Five different and diverse types of leukocytes exist, but they are all produced and derived from a multipotent cell in the bone marrow known as a...

 counts have been shown to indicate a worse prognosis.

See also

• Agranulocytosis
  Agranulocytosis
  Granulopenia, also known as Agranulosis or Agranulocytosis, is an acute condition involving a severe and dangerous leukopenia , most commonly of neutrophils causing a neutropenia in the circulating blood. It represents a severe lack of one major class of infection-fighting white blood cells...
  
  
• Complete blood count
  Complete blood count
  A complete blood count , also known as full blood count or full blood exam or blood panel, is a test panel requested by a doctor or other medical professional that gives information about the cells in a patient's blood...
  
  
• Bandemia
  Bandemia
  Bandemia refers to an excess of band cells released by the bone marrow into the blood. The ICD diagnosis code for bandemia is 288.66.It is a signifier of infection or inflammation....