06-06-2025

C/W Ambiguous or Definitive Term-Heme  Malignancy ONLY

Scenario:

Bone marrow biopsy shows B lymphoblastic leukemia. FISH results consistent with lymphoblastic leukemia with hyperdiploidy.

Question: For this Heme Case, is “consistent with” lymphoblastic leukemia with hyperdiploidy a definitive diagnosis, thus allowing us to Code the more definitive histology to 9815/3: B lymphoblastic leukemia with hyperdiploidy and assign a diagnostic confirmation code of 3?
Yes
No
 
Answer & Rationale: Yes. To quote Jennifer Ruhl, MS, CCS, RHIT, ODS presentation NAACCR 2024/2025 Hematopoietic Part 1 Webinar presented 12/2024
“Consistent With” and Heme neoplasms
“Consistent with” is historically and currently considered ambiguous terminology
Becoming the standard of reporting Heme diagnoses
For HEME NEOPLASMS ONLY:
“Consistent with” is a definitive diagnosis
So, for coding Heme neoplasms, “consistent with” is not ambiguous terminology