Validation of ICD-10 codes shows intracranial venous thrombosis incidence to be higher than previously reported. Issue 1 (January 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Handley, Joel D; Emsley, Hedley CA
• Other Names: Shepheard Jennie guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Health information management journal. Volume 49:Issue 1(2020)
• Page Start: 58
• Page End: 61
• Publication Date: 2020-01
• Subjects: ICD-10 -- cerebral thrombosis -- sinus thrombosis -- venous thrombosis -- clinical coding -- incidence; Medical records -- Management -- Periodicals; Medical records -- Management -- Australia -- Periodicals; Medical records -- Management; Australia; Periodicals; Periodicals; 651.50426105
• DOI: 10.1177/1833358318819105
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1833-3583

Abstract

Background: Intracranial venous thrombosis (ICVT) accounts for around 0.5% of all stroke cases. There have been no previously published studies of the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Edition (ICD-10) validation for the identification of ICVT admissions in adults. Objective: The aims of this study were to validate and quantify the performance of the ICD-10 coding system for identifying cases of ICVT in adults and to derive an estimate of incidence. Method: Administrative data were collected for all patients admitted to a regional neurosciences centre over a 5-year period. We searched for the following ICD-10 codes at any position: G08.X (intracranial and intraspinal phlebitis and thrombophlebitis), I67.6 (non-pyogenic thrombosis of intracranial venous system), I63.6 (cerebral infarction due to cerebral venous thrombosis, non-pyogenic), O22.5 (cerebral venous thrombosis in pregnancy) and O87.3 (cerebral venous thrombosis in the puerperium). Results: Sixty-five admissions were identified by at least one of the relevant ICD-10 codes. The overall positive predictive value (PPV) for confirmed ICVT from all of the admissions combined was 92.3% (60 out of 65) with the results for each code as follows: G08.X 91.5% (54 of 59), O22.5 100% (4 of 4), I67.6 100% (1 of 1), I63.6 100% (1 of 1) and O87.3 100% (1 of 1). There were 40 unique cases of ICVT over a 5-year period giving an annual incidence of ICVT of 5 per million. Conclusions: All codes gave a high PPV. Implications for practice: As demonstrated in previous studies, the incidence of ICVT may be higher than previously thought.