Evidence-based used, yet still controversial: the arterial filter.

Arterial line filters are considered by many as an essential safety measure inside a cardiopulmonary bypass circuit. There is no doubt that this was true during the bubble oxygenator era, but we can question whether the existing arterial line filter design and positioning of the filter are still optimal seeing the tremendous progress in cardiopulmonary bypass circuit components. This overview gives a critical overview of existing arterial line filter design.