In vitro evaluation of a pediatric microaggregate blood filter.

Use of a pediatric stainless steel microaggregate screen filter to filter whole blood, gravity-sedimented packed cells, and centrifuged packed cells (cPC) from 20 healthy adults resulted in excessive levels of hemolysis (to 1477.9 mg/dl plasma hemoglobin with 5-day-old cPC) and unacceptable frequency of occlusion (10 to 40 percent).