ICD-9 Code 655.63

Suspected damage to fetus from radiation, affecting management of mother, antepartum condition or complication

Not Valid for Submission

655.63 is a legacy non-billable code used to specify a medical diagnosis of suspected damage to fetus from radiation, affecting management of mother, antepartum condition or complication. This code was replaced on September 30, 2015 by its ICD-10 equivalent.

ICD-9: 655.63
Short Description:Radiat fet damag-antepar
Long Description:Suspected damage to fetus from radiation, affecting management of mother, antepartum condition or complication

Convert 655.63 to ICD-10

The following crosswalk between ICD-9 to ICD-10 is based based on the General Equivalence Mappings (GEMS) information:

  • O35.6XX0 - Maternal care for damage to fetus by radiation, unsp

Code Classification

  • Complications of pregnancy, childbirth, and the puerperium (630–679)
    • Normal delivery, and other indications for care in pregnancy, labor, and delivery (650-659)
      • 655 Known or suspected fetal abnormality affecting management of mother

Information for Medical Professionals

Code Edits

The Medicare Code Editor (MCE) detects and reports errors in the coding of claims data. The following ICD-9 Code Edits are applicable to this code:

Information for Patients


Health Problems in Pregnancy

Every pregnancy has some risk of problems. You may have problems because of a health condition you had before you got pregnant. You could also develop a condition during pregnancy. Other causes of problems during pregnancy can include being pregnant with more than one baby, a health problem in a previous pregnancy, drug use during pregnancy, or being over age 35. Any of these can affect your health, the health of your baby, or both.

If you have a chronic condition, you should talk to your health care provider about how to minimize your risk before you get pregnant. Once you are pregnant, you may need a health care team to monitor your pregnancy. Some common health problems that can complicate a pregnancy include:

  • High blood pressure
  • Polycystic ovary syndrome
  • Kidney problems
  • Autoimmune disorders
  • Obesity
  • HIV/AIDS
  • Cancer
  • Infections

Other conditions that can make pregnancy risky can happen while you are pregnant - for example, gestational diabetes and Rh incompatibility. Good prenatal care can help detect and treat them.

Some discomforts, like nausea, back pain, and fatigue, are common during pregnancy. Sometimes it is hard to know what is normal. Call your health care provider if something is bothering or worrying you.


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Radiation Exposure

What is radiation?

Radiation is energy. It travels in the form of energy waves or high-speed particles. Radiation can occur naturally or be man-made. There are two types:

  • Non-ionizing radiation, which includes radio waves, cell phones, microwaves, infrared radiation and visible light
  • Ionizing radiation, which includes ultraviolet radiation, radon, x-rays, and gamma rays

What are the sources of radiation exposure?

Background radiation is all around us all the time. Most of it forms naturally from minerals. These radioactive minerals are in the ground, soil, water, and even our bodies. Background radiation can also come from outer space and the sun. Other sources are man-made, such as x-rays, radiation therapy to treat cancer, and electrical power lines.

What are the health effects of radiation exposure?

Radiation has been around us throughout our evolution. So our bodies are designed to deal with the low levels we're exposed to every day. But too much radiation can damage tissues by changing cell structure and damaging DNA. This can cause serious health problems, including cancer.

The amount of damage that exposure to radiation can cause depends on several factors, including:

  • The type of radiation
  • The dose (amount) of radiation
  • How you were exposed, such as through skin contact, swallowing or breathing it in, or having rays pass through your body
  • Where the radiation concentrates in the body and how long it stays there
  • How sensitive your body is to radiation. A fetus is most vulnerable to the effects of radiation. Infants, children, older adults, pregnant women, and people with compromised immune systems are more vulnerable to health effects than healthy adults.

Being exposed to a lot of radiation over a short period of time, such as from a radiation emergency, can cause skin burns. It may also lead to acute radiation syndrome (ARS, or "radiation sickness"). The symptoms of ARS include headache and diarrhea. They usually start within hours. Those symptoms will go away and the person will seem healthy for a little while. But then they will get sick again. How soon they get sick again, which symptoms they have, and how sick they get depends on the amount of radiation they received. In some cases, ARS causes death in the following days or weeks.

Exposure to low levels of radiation in the environment does not cause immediate health effects. But it can slightly increase your overall risk of cancer.

What are the treatments for acute radiation sickness?

Before they start treatment, health care professionals need to figure out how much radiation your body absorbed. They will ask about your symptoms, do blood tests, and may use a device that measures radiation. They also try get more information about the exposure, such as what type of radiation it was, how far away you were from the source of the radiation, and how long you were exposed.

Treatment focuses on reducing and treating infections, preventing dehydration, and treating injuries and burns. Some people may need treatments that help the bone marrow recover its function. If you were exposed to certain types of radiation, your provider may give you a treatment that limits or removes the contamination that is inside your body. You may also get treatments for your symptoms.

How can radiation exposure be prevented?

There are steps you can take to prevent or reduce radiation exposure:

  • If your health care provider recommends a test that uses radiation, ask about its risks and benefits. In some cases, you may be able to have a different test that does not use radiation. But if you do need a test that uses radiation, do some research into the local imaging facilities. Find one that monitors and uses techniques to reduce the doses they are giving patients.
  • Reduce electromagnetic radiation exposure from your cell phone. At this time, scientific evidence has not found a link between cell phone use and health problems in humans. More research is needed to be sure. But if you still have concerns, you can reduce how much time you spend on your phone. You can also use speaker mode or a headset to place more distance between your head and the cell phone.
  • If you live in a house, test the radon levels, and if you need to, get a radon reduction system.
  • During a radiation emergency, get inside a building to take shelter. Stay inside, with all of the windows and doors shut. Stay tuned to and follow the advice of emergency responders and officials.

Environmental Protection Agency


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ICD-9 Footnotes

General Equivalence Map Definitions
The ICD-9 and ICD-10 GEMs are used to facilitate linking between the diagnosis codes in ICD-9-CM and the new ICD-10-CM code set. The GEMs are the raw material from which providers, health information vendors and payers can derive specific applied mappings to meet their needs.

  • Approximate Flag - The approximate flag is on, indicating that the relationship between the code in the source system and the code in the target system is an approximate equivalent.
  • No Map Flag - The no map flag indicates that a code in the source system is not linked to any code in the target system.
  • Combination Flag - The combination flag indicates that more than one code in the target system is required to satisfy the full equivalent meaning of a code in the source system.