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Radiology Coding Alert

ICD-9 2012:

415.13 and 747.3x Put Pulmonary Changes in the Spotlight

Published on Mon Jul 04, 2011

Your radiology coding tools will need to reflect cystostomy and fracture updates, too.Whether you need a code for pulmonary saddle embolus or coarctation, ICD-9 2012 should offer just what you're looking for.That's the news from recently posted proposed updates to the code set. If finalized, these codes will become effective Oct. 1, 2011. Here are the main proposals to watch.Separate Aorta and Pulmonary Saddle Embolus OptionsICD-9 2012 may add new code 415.13 (Saddle embolus of pulmonary artery). "A saddle embolus is where you have a very large blood clot that dislodges and then goes through the blood stream and lands in a big division of an artery," explained National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) medical officer David Berglund, MD, at the March 2010 ICD-9 Coordination and Maintenance Committee meeting (page 21, www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/icd9/Transcript3_10_2010.pdf).A pulmonary artery saddle embolus can block blood flow to the lungs, making this a severe, potentially fatal [...]
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