The effect of peripheral blood contamination on colony yield from human bone marrow aspirates.

Serial bone marrow aspirates were taken from a single site in each of nine individuals. The colony forming capacity of these samples, measured by culturing the cells in semi-solid agar in diffusion chambers, fell as the aspirate volume increased. Comparison of the results from different individuals showed that this effect was consistent within the group and may be useful as a simple method for standardizing results from human bone marrow cultures.