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Ob-Gyn Coding Alert

You Be the Coder:

Consider a High-Cure-Rate Tumor Benign

Published on Mon Jul 21, 2014

Question: The pathology report came back as “Serous tumor of low malignant potential (atypical proliferative serous tumor of ovary).” Should I use 183.0? 

Florida Subscriber

Answer: No, you should not use 183.0 (Malignant neoplasm of ovary). This type of tumor is considered a borderline malignancy and is confined to the ovary. Once removed, there is a 95-100 percent survival rate, but this type of tumor can recur in other areas, and some of them do later become invasive.
 
ICD-10: Code 183.0 splits into three options in ICD-10:
  • C56.1, Malignant neoplasm of right ovary
  • C56.2, ... left ovary
  • C56.9, ... unspecified ovary.
Because it is a borderline tumor, you should think of it as a tumor of uncertain behavior, and you should report 236.2 (Neoplasm of uncertain behavior of ovary). 
 
ICD-10: Again, code 236.2 splits into three options in ICD-10:
  • D39.10, Neoplasm of uncertain behavior of unspecified ovary 
  • D39.11, Neoplasm of uncertain behavior of right ovary 
  • D39.12, Neoplasm of uncertain behavior of left ovary 

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