Eli's Rehab Report
Take the Stroke Coding Challenge
See how you fare when it comes to choosing a principal diagnosis code 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? Question 2 A patient has a right hemispheric hemorrhage with clinically stable left-sided weakness. Which term describes this patient's condition? 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? Question 4 A patient is being treated by a physiatrist for hemiplegia of the dominate side following a CVA. What is the principal diagnosis? Answers
Think you've got stroke coding down pat? Take this quiz to find out whether you know your embolisms from your hemorrhages.
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
A. stroke
B. cerebral infarction
C. reversible ischemic neurological event
D. stroke in evolution
A. 431 - Cerebral hemorrhage
B. 436 - Stroke
C. 997.02 - Iatrogenic cerebrovascular infarction or hemorrhage
D. 790.92 - Abnormal coagulation profile
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
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.
Eli's Rehab Report
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