A small, rounded cluster of inflammatory cells that forms in response to chronic infection or irritation, often seen in tuberculosis or fungal diseases.
From granulo- plus -oma, a suffix meaning 'tumor' or 'swelling.' The term emerged in medical literature in the 19th century as pathologists observed these characteristic structures under microscopes.
When your immune system can't completely destroy an invader like the tuberculosis bacterium, it basically walls the problem off by surrounding it with cells in a tiny nodule—this is nature's 'quarantine bubble,' and doctors can see it on X-rays.
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