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Neurology & Pain Management Coding Alert

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ICD-9 2010 Alert: Temporal Sclerosis

Published on Thu Nov 19, 2009

Question: Our neurologists saw a case of temporal sclerosis. What code should I use for this? New York Subscriber Answer: Starting Oct. 1, you'll have a specific code for the disease. ICD-9 2010 will include 348.81 (Temporal sclerosis). What is it? Although temporal sclerosis is uncommon among the general population, it is the most common form of lesion associated with temporal epilepsy. Neurologists often suspect temporal sclerosis when patients have epileptic symptoms such as muscle spasms, convulsions, and seizures. Temporal sclerosis may cause epilepsy. This disease is characterized by the loss of neurons (nerve cells) and scarring of the temporal lobe associated with certain brain injuries, for example traumatic injury, infection, brain tumor, lack of oxygen, or uncontrolled seizure. Damage to this part of the brain can cause a partial (focal) form of epilepsy known as temporal lobe epilepsy. This is listed as a separate code in ICD-9: 345.5 (Localization-related [...]
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