2012 ICD-9-CM Diagnosis Code 573.3
Hepatitis, unspecified
- inflammation of the liver and liver disease involving degenerative or necrotic alterations of hepatocytes.
- (hep-a-TYE-tis) Disease of the liver causing inflammation. Symptoms include an enlarged liver, fever, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and dark urine.
- hepatitis. Inflammation of the liver; usually from a viral infection, but sometimes from toxic agents. Previously endemic throughout much of the developing world, viral hepatitis now ranks as a major public health problem in industrialized nations. The three most common types of viral hepatitis -- A, B, and C -- afflict over 500,000 people in the U.S. each year, and millions worldwide. Hepatitis B alone ranks as the ninth leading killer in the world. Hepatitis A, an RNA enterovirus, spread by contact with fecal matter or blood, most often through ingestion of contaminated food. Rarely fatal, it cannot be treated except by bed rest for 1 -- 4 weeks, during which time no alcohol should be consumed. It may recur after 3 months. Hepatitis B is shed through blood, semen, vaginal secretions, and saliva approximately 4 -- 6 weeks after symptoms develop; the virus may take up to 6 months to incubate, and people may also become asymptomatic carriers. Hepatitis B may heal slowly, and is a leading cause of chronic liver disease and cirrhosis. Effective vaccines exist, but it is the fastest spreading form of the disease in the U.S., with some 300,000 cases reported annually. Rates were up 80% from 1981 -- 1986 among IV drug users and up 38% during the same period among heterosexuals; among homosexuals, previously a high-risk group, rates held stable. Hepatitis C, infecting about 150,000 Americans annually, remains in the blood for years and accounts for a large percentage of cirrhosis, liver failure, and liver cancer cases. Its main mode of transmission is through blood transfusion, and possibly sexual intercourse. Types D and E are less frequently seen in the U.S. (STED98)
- Short description: Hepatitis NOS.
- ICD-9-CM 573.3 is a billable medical code that can be used to specify a diagnosis on a reimbursement claim.
- You are viewing the 2012 version of ICD-9-CM 573.3.
- More recent version(s) of ICD-9-CM 573.3: 2013.
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ICD-9-CM Volume 2 Index entries containing back-references to 573.3: