ED Coding and Reimbursement Alert

Question: Encounter notes indicate that the ED physician treated a patient suffering from Wallenberg syndrome. I can’t find a diagnosis code anywhere for this condition. Could you provide a diagnosis code for this patient’s syndrome?

Nebraska Subscriber

Answer: This is an instance of the provider listing a synonym for the primary descriptor in a diagnosis code. No worries, though, as we can run down the correct code pretty easily.

On the claim, report G46.3 (Brain stem stroke syndrome) to indicate the patient’s Wallenberg syndrome. The payer will connect the dots between the code and the specific stroke type, as it’s listed as an alternate term in the extended descriptor under G46.3.

Other terms that fall under the broad category of brain stem stroke syndrome, per ICD-10, are:

• Benedikt syndrome
• Claude syndrome
• Foville syndrome
• Millard-Gubler syndrome
• Weber syndrome

Code any of these conditions with G46.3.