# Add a Follow-Up Case

When you receive updates or additional Case information, you can process and submit the information in a Follow-up Case. When you open a Follow-up Case, Vault creates a new version of the Case and imports all relevant information from the initial version. The new version of the Case enters the Data Entry stage for processing, or the initial case stage defined in your Vault's Case Processing lifecycle and workflow.

### Document Mapping

Vault copies the latest version of <a href="/en/gr/01167/">narrative documents</a> from initial _Cases_ to follow-up _Cases_. In addition, documents of the following classifications are referenced on follow-up _Cases_:

* _Case > Source > Adverse Event Report_
* _Case > Source > Attachment_
* _Case > Source > Literature_
* _Literature > Literature Article_

On follow-up _Cases_, Vault does not reference or copy other document classifications.

### Follow Up on a Closed Case

Once a Case is reported to health authorities, the Case and its related data remain locked to prevent changes and subsequent audit violations.

To add or change information on a Closed Case, you must create a Follow-up Case. In this scenario, Vault changes the state of the initial Case to **Superseded**.

You can't create Follow-up Cases from Cases in the **Superseded**, **Nullified**, or **Voided** state or in a lifecycle state assigned to the **Deleted** state type.

If your Vault is configured for bulk recoding of non-current MedDRA-coded terms, when you run the **Run Bulk Recode** action, Vault creates a Follow-up Case for each impacted Approved and Closed Case. When the recoding is complete, the Follow-up Case lifecycle state changes to **Recoded**. For more information, see <a href="/en/gr/01183/">Bulk Recode MedDRA-Coded Terms</a>.

### Follow Up on an Open Case

When you receive significant follow-up information but don't have enough time to process and review the new information before reporting the Case, you can create a Follow-up Case and process the new version in parallel with the initial Case.

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      <p><strong>Note</strong>: You can have up to two (2) open versions of a Case at the same time. A Case is considered open when it has not completed processing. This is generally in any state before <strong>Approved</strong>, <strong>Closed</strong>, or <strong>Superseded</strong>.</p>
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If the Case updates are non-significant, you can <a href="/en/gr/01174/">revise an Approved Case</a> before you submit the report to health authorities.

## Create a Follow-Up Case

By default, you can create Follow-up Cases for Cases in the **Medical Review** or **Closed** state. Your Admin can configure your Vault so this action is available in other states, such as **Approved**.

Complete the following steps to create a Follow-up Case:

1. Go to the **Cases** tab and then select the Case you want to create a Follow-up Case for.
2. On the **Case** page, expand the **All Actions** menu, and then select the **Create Follow Up Case** action. <br>The action label may appear as **Start Revision/Follow-Up**, **Follow Up (New Version)**, or a different label depending on your Admin's configuration.  

**Result**

Vault creates a new version of the _Case_. If the initial _Case_ is in the _Closed_ state, Vault changes its state to _Superseded_. If the initial _Case_ had associated _Parent Information_, Vault also copies that data, along with any new _Parent Information_ from the _Inbox Item_, to a new version of the _Parent Information_. For domestic follow-up _Cases_ with _Parent Information_, Vault generates or updates the _Localized Parent Information_. For more information, see <a href="/en/gr/826980/#update-parent-info">Perform Inbox Item to Case Compare</a>.

## Follow-Up on a Localized Case

When you create a global follow-up _Case_ with a non-global _Localization_, Vault generates <a href="/en/gr/01290/#local-fu-cases">follow-up _Localized Cases_</a>.

## Handling an Accidental Follow-Up Case

If a Follow-up Case is created in error, we recommend that you initiate a non-significant <a href="/en/gr/01174/">Case Revision</a> workflow to Close the Case without generating Submissions.

We do not recommend that you make the Follow-up Case Invalid, because the **Invalid** state is reserved for when the entire Case (all versions) cannot be submitted to health authorities.

## <a id="case-versions"></a>About Case Versions

When you open a new Case, the initial Case version starts at v0.1. When you complete Case processing, Vault assigns the closed Case the next major version number, for example, v1.0.

If you create a Follow-up Case for an open Case, Vault adds one major (+1.0) version number to the Case version. For example, if you create a Follow-up Case for an initial Case version, which is v0.1, the Follow-up Case version during processing is v1.1. When you finish processing and close the Follow-up Case, the version is v2.0.

If you create a Follow-up Case for a closed Case, Vault adds one minor (+0.1) version number to the Case version. For example, if you create a Follow-up Case for a closed Case with v2.0, the Follow-up Case starts at v2.1. When you finish processing and close the Follow-up Case, the version is v3.0.