Stago UK has launched ExpertCor, a set of fresh frozen plasmas designed to significantly improve laboratory compliance, by simplifying the validation and verification of coagulation analysers. For the first time, UK laboratories will have a method comparison solution which can be used on any manufacturer’s coagulation system. The kits cover all common coagulation parameters (PT, INR, APTT, fibrinogen, D-dimer, UFH and LMWH), with values across the whole working range.
Each kit contains enough samples at all points of the working range of common coagulation tests to generate data and statistics to confirm test performance. One kit contains enough sample volume to complete analysis on two instruments. Experienced laboratory staff no longer need to spend valuable time trying to find and select suitable patient samples from their own archives. Laboratories with the added benefit of Stago’s STA Coag-Expert already installed on their STA R Max instruments will be able to run automated reports to demonstrate compliance quickly and easily.
Stago UK’s recent Scientific Symposium discussed a newly published European evaluation on ExpertCor. This confirmed that the frozen plasmas can be used confidently to evaluate the instrument-to-instrument reproducibility in a similar fashion to patient samples, with sufficient data points across the measuring range of routine parameters such as PT/INR, APTT and fibrinogen.
It also noted that “given the advantages of sufficient plasma volume for all three parameters on one analyser, sufficient volume for all analysers by using several kits of the same batch, and no need for time-consuming selection of patient samples, the frozen plasma set is a preferred alternative to the use of local patient samples”. ExpertCor offers the ‘added value’ of delivering “defining reference range values on one instrument and safely transferring them to the other instrument without additional testing”. Email stago-uk@uk.stago.com for a copy of the ExpertCor brochure.