Wiki Urothelial Carcinoma Diagnosis

[sxcoder1]

I've always been confused about urothelial carcinoma diagnosis. In this case, the patient had a nephrectomy done and the dx was urothelial carcinoma. The tumor was in the kidney, but would C64.1 be incorrect then? If it is incorrect, what would you use? Thanks for any clarification!

 

[thomas7331]

C64.- would be correct if it's a primary tumor of the kidney. Are you confused because urothelial carcinoma is usually a bladder cancer? It is most often found in the bladder, but not always, so it should be coded to the site where it occurs. Alternatively, if this was a secondary tumor that had originated in the bladder but metastasized to the kidney, they it would be coded with a C79.0- code. But the pathology report should tell you which is the case.

 

[sxcoder1]

The actual path report said urothelial carcinoma, and the tumor was in the kidney. And yes, the fact that urothelial carcinoma is usually in the bladder confused me, but it makes sense now. Thank you for the explanation!