N
Patient 1
THE CUSTOMER CONTACTED A SIEMENS CUSTOMER CARE CENTER (CCC). THE CUSTOMER DETERMINED THAT BOTH SAMPLES WERE PALE YELLOW AND CLEAR AND THAT THE SAMPLES TUBES WERE CORRECTLY FILLED. THE CUSTOMER INDICATED THAT THE SYRINGES, PRIMES AND PIPETTORS ON THE SYSTEM WERE RECOVERING ACCEPTABLY. THEY ALSO REPORTED THAT THEY RAN A VALIDATION KIT ON THE SYSTEM, WHICH RECOVERED ACCEPTABLY. THERE WAS NO RECURRENCE OF THIS ISSUE WITH OTHER SAMPLES AND SIEMENS DETERMINED THAT THE SAMPLE INTEGRITY AND TUBE TYPE WERE ACCEPTABLE. A SIEMENS CUSTOMER SERVICE ENGINEER (CSE) WAS DISPATCHED TO THE CUSTOMER'S SITE. AS PER THE CUSTOMER'S REQUEST, THE CSE PROACTIVELY REPLACED AND ALIGNED THE REAGENT AND SAMPLE PROBES AND CALIBRATED THE PISTON PUMPS AND REAGENT PROBE TEMPERATURE. THE CUSTOMER INFORMED THE CSE THAT THE FLAGGED RESULTS WERE PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF IMPROPER SAMPLE CENTRIFUGATION. SIEMENS FURTHER INVESTIGATED THE EVENT AND DETERMINED THAT THERE WAS NO SYSTEM OR REAGENT MALFUNCTION. SIEMENS DETERMINED THAT THE RESULTS WERE FLAGGED APPROPRIATELY AND THAT QUALITY CONTROLS (QCS) WERE WITHIN ACCEPTABLE RANGES ON THE DAY OF THE EVENT. LOW FIBRINOGEN, CLOTS IN THE SAMPLE, OR A CLOGGED SAMPLE PROBE POTENTIALLY CAUSED THE FLAGS TO BE TRIGGERED ON THE AFFECTED SAMPLE. INADEQUATE MIXING, CENTRIFUGATION AND OTHER MISHANDLING OF THE SAMPLE CANNOT BE RULED OUT AS CONTRIBUTING FACTORS TO THE FLAGGED RESULTS. AS PER THE "EVALUATION AND CHECKING METHODS FOR INTERPRETATION OF MEASUREMENT CURVES ON THE BCS SYSTEM/BCS XP SYSTEM" BULLETIN, RESULTS FLAGGED WITH "MEASUREMENT CURVE WITHOUT REACTION" ERRORS ARE NOT TO BE REPORTED AS GREATER THAN OR LESS THAN THE REPORTING LIMIT. SIEMENS DETERMINED THE CUSTOMER INCORRECTLY REPORTED THE RESULTS AND DID NOT ADEQUATELY FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS DOCUMENTED IN THE BULLETIN. SIEMENS EDUCATED THE CUSTOMER ON HOW TO REVIEW REACTION CURVES AND INFORMED THE CUSTOMER THAT THE RESULTS OBTAINED ON THE AFFECTED SAMPLE WERE NOT REPORTABLE. THE SYSTEM IS PERFORMING ACCORDING TO SPECIFICATIONS. NO FURTHER EVALUATION OF THIS DEVICE IS REQUIRED.