The most common complications seen in children involved:
(1) hypocalcemia associated with citrate toxicity
(2) related to vascular access (thrombosis, catheter-related infection, hematoma, bleeding)
(3) shifts in intravascular volumes
Risk factors for these complications identified on multivariate analysis:
(1) lower body weight (associated with younger age)
(2) lower hemoglobin prior to apheresis
(3) apheresis while in the intensive care unit (ICU)
(4) total number of procedures performed
where:
• Precise cutoffs were not provided.
• For weight < 20 kilograms will be used.
ª For hemoglobin < 8 g/dL was used (the cutoff used for blood priming).
• For total procedures >= 5 was selected arbitrarily.
