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Pulmonology Coding Alert

Reader Question:

Code 415.11 as the Primary Diagnosis

Published on Tue Jul 01, 2003

Question: While attending to a patient for a pulmonary embolism, my pulmonologist discovered a clot in the patients right leg. How should I code that?

Nevada Subscriber
 

Answer: Report a pulmonary embolism (415.11, Iatrogenic pulmonary embolism and infarction) as the primary diagnosis because the physician was treating that condition with deep venous thrombosis or a blood cot in the leg using 451.11 (Phlebitis and thrombo-phlebitis; femoral vein) or 451.19 ( other) as the underlying condition. Pulmonary embolic disease, similar to thrombo-embolic disease, occurs in the pulmonary system rather than the arterial system and requires codes different from those used to report thrombo-embolic disease, which refers to blood clots in the arterial system.
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