Empty Sample Cups May Mimic Patients' Results with the Stratus Analyzer. (Reannouncement with New Availability Information).

摘要

The 'Stratus' analyzer (Dade, Miami, FL) is a very automated clinical chemistry instrument which is capable of performing a wide variety of analyses. It does require laboratory technicians to load serum samples into specimen cups to be placed in the sample carousel. If an error is made and an empty sample cup is loaded onto the 'Stratus', a result may be printed which can be mistaken for a believable patient value. We have found this to be true for ferritin, free T4, HCG, IgE, and TSH. Care must be taken by the technician to insure that each cup contains patient specimen to avoid a possible erroneous interpretation if an empty cup is analyzed and the 'Stratus' prints a result on it.