I am a perfusionist in the open heart rooms. A couple of years ago our hospital eliminated our 40 micron blood filters for blood we return to the patient from the cell saver. I am not aware of there rational for the filters removal. Anesthesias blood line is 150 microns. I am not able to find any direct information in this regard. I believe that the majority of cell salvaged blood at most accounts are given back through a microaggragate filter, but I can not find any hard cold facts on this. What policies are you aware of and the reasonings?

Thanks
Helene P.