Use of a total wash-out method in an open heart operation.

Pathological cold agglutinins may induce hemolysis in patients who need hypothermic cardiopulmonary bypass and blood transfusion. A simple technique, termed the total wash-out method, was used in a patient with high thermal amplitude, moderate-titer cold agglutinin before hypothermic cardiopulmonary bypass. The patient's cold agglutinin titer decreased abruptly after operation. None of the preoperative hemolysis phenomena were found during her 6 months of follow-up.