Definition

Noun: 1. Underdevelopment of an organ or tissue: A medical condition where an organ or tissue is underdeveloped due to an abnormally low number of cells. It results in the organ or tissue being smaller than the typical or expected size.

Usage

• Hypoplasia is a technical term used primarily in medical, biological, and clinical contexts to describe a specific type of developmental abnormality.
• It is often used to specify the affected organ or tissue (e.g., , ).

Examples

• The dental examination revealed hypoplasia of the tooth enamel, likely due to childhood illness.
• Cerebellar hypoplasia is a neurological condition where the cerebellum is underdeveloped.
• The underdevelopment was diagnosed as hypoplasia of the thymus gland.

Advanced Usage

• Hypoplasia can be contrasted with aplasia (complete failure of development) and hyperplasia (overdevelopment/enlargement due to an increased number of cells).
• It is often congenital (present at birth) but can sometimes be acquired.

Variants and Related Words

• Hypoplastic (adjective): Describing the state of being underdeveloped.
  • The hypoplastic left heart syndrome is a serious congenital condition.
• Aplasia (noun): The complete absence of an organ or tissue due to a lack of development.
• Hyperplasia (noun): The enlargement of an organ or tissue caused by an increase in the reproduction rate of its cells.

Synonyms

• Underdevelopment
• Incomplete development

Antonyms

• Hyperplasia
• Hypertrophy (enlargement of an organ due to increase in cell size, not number)

Noun

1. underdevelopment of an organ because of a decrease in the number of cells