Eli's Rehab Report
Take the Stroke Coding Challenge
See how you fare when it comes to choosing a principal diagnosis code
Think you've got stroke coding down pat? Take this quiz to find out whether you know your embolisms from your hemorrhages.
Question 1
A 71-year-old patient has a stroke in the right middle cerebral artery due to an embolus from a stenotic carotid artery plaque. What is the principal diagnosis?
A. 433.10 - Carotid artery stenosis without mention of cerebral infarction
B. 434.10 - Cerebral embolism without mention of cerebral infarction
C. 434.11 - Cerebral embolism with cerebral infarction
Question 2
A patient has a right hemispheric hemorrhage with clinically stable left-sided weakness. Which term describes this patient's condition?
A. stroke
B. cerebral infarction
C. reversible ischemic neurological event
D. stroke in evolution
Question 3
The physician admits a patient with an intracerebral hemorrhage due to therapeutic doses of warfarin. The doctor treats the patient with observation, fresh frozen plasma, and vitamin K. What is the principal diagnosis?
A. 431 - Cerebral hemorrhage
B. 436 - Stroke
C. 997.02 - Iatrogenic cerebrovascular infarction or hemorrhage
D. 790.92 - Abnormal coagulation profile
Question 4
A patient is being treated by a physiatrist for hemiplegia of the dominate side following a CVA. What is the principal diagnosis?
A. 342.91 - Hemiplegia, unspecified, affecting dominate side
B. 436 - Acute, but ill-defined, cerebrovascular disease
C. 434.91 - Cerebral artery occlusion, unspecified, with cerebral infarction
D. 438.22 - Hemiplegia affecting nondominant side
Answers
1. C 2. A 3. A 4. D
Answers 1-3 provided by James Kennedy, MD, CCS, vice president of VP-MA Health Solutions Inc. in Nashville, Tenn.
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