An audit of the diagnostic accuracy of the ROTEM (R) sigma for the identification of hypofibrinogenaemia in cardiac surgical patients

The ROTEM (R) delta (TEM Innovations GmbH, Munich, Germany) has been used extensively worldwide for the assessment of coagulation in cardiac surgical patients. Recently, a new cartridge-based ROTEM device (ROTEM (R) sigma, TEM Innovations GmbH, Munich, Germany) has become available. In this paper we report an audit of the diagnostic accuracy of the ROTEM sigma for the identification of hypofibrinogenaemia in cardiac surgical patients. We hypothesised that the diagnostic accuracy of the ROTEMsigma for the identification of hypofibrinogenaemia would be in a similar range to that previously reported for the ROTEMdelta. Simultaneous blood samples for Clauss laboratory fibrinogen and ROTEMsigma FIBTEM measurements were obtained immediately after heparin reversal post-cardiopulmonary bypass in 200 adult cardiac surgical patients. The sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values for FIBTEM A5 and A10 for the identification of hypofibrinogenaemia (Clauss fibrinogen