Cardiology Coding Alert

Plus: Check out embolus and anaphylaxis ICD-9 updates.ICD-9 2012 is set to ease your search for pulmonary saddle embolus and arteriovenous malformation codes.That's the news from recently posted proposed updates to the code set. The finalized version will become effective Oct. 1, 2011, so 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 type of embolism, Berglund said. After realizing there's no [...]