ICD-10 Code K70.40

Alcoholic hepatic failure without coma

  1. ICD-10 Index
  2. Chapter: K00–K93
  3. Section: K70-K77
  4. Block: K70
  5. K70.40 - Alcoholic hepatic failure without coma
Version 2019 Billable Code Adult Diagnoses

Valid for Submission

K70.40 is a billable code used to specify a medical diagnosis of alcoholic hepatic failure without coma. The code is valid for the year 2020 for the submission of HIPAA-covered transactions.

ICD-10: K70.40
Short Description:Alcoholic hepatic failure without coma
Long Description:Alcoholic hepatic failure without coma

Code Classification

  • Diseases of the digestive system (K00–K93)
    • Diseases of liver (K70-K77)
      • Alcoholic liver disease (K70)

Code History

  • FY 2016 - New Code, effective from 10/1/2015 through 9/30/2016
    (first year ICD-10-CM implemented into the HIPAA mandated code set)
  • FY 2017 - No Change, effective from 10/1/2016 through 9/30/2017
  • FY 2018 - No Change, effective from 10/1/2017 through 9/30/2018
  • FY 2019 - No Change, effective from 10/1/2018 through 9/30/2019
  • FY 2020 - No Change, effective from 10/1/2019 through 9/30/2020

Information for Medical Professionals

Code Edits

The Medicare Code Editor (MCE) detects and reports errors in the coding of claims data. The following ICD-10 Code Edits are applicable to this code:

  • Adult diagnoses - Adult. Age range is 15–124 years inclusive (e.g., senile delirium, mature cataract).

Diagnostic Related Groups

The Diagnostic Related Groups (DRGs) are a patient classification scheme which provides a means of relating the type of patients a hospital treats. The DRGs divides all possible principal diagnoses into mutually exclusive principal diagnosis areas referred to as Major Diagnostic Categories (MDC). The diagnosis code K70.40 is grouped in the following groups for version MS-DRG V37.0 applicable from 10/01/2020 through 09/30/2020.

  • 432 - CIRRHOSIS AND ALCOHOLIC HEPATITIS WITH MCC
  • 433 - CIRRHOSIS AND ALCOHOLIC HEPATITIS WITH CC
  • 434 - CIRRHOSIS AND ALCOHOLIC HEPATITIS WITHOUT CC/MCC

Convert K70.40 to ICD-9

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

  • 571.3 - Alcohol liver damage NOS (Approximate Flag)

Synonyms

The following clinical terms are approximate synonyms or lay terms that might be used to identify the correct diagnosis code:

  • Alcoholic hepatic failure
  • Alcoholic liver damage

Index to Diseases and Injuries

The Index to Diseases and Injuries is an alphabetical listing of medical terms, with each term mapped to one or more ICD-10 code(s). The following references for the code K70.40 are found in the index:


Information for Patients


Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD)

For most adults, moderate alcohol use is probably not harmful. However, about 18 million adult Americans have an alcohol use disorder (AUD). This means that their drinking causes distress and harm. It includes alcoholism and alcohol abuse.

Alcoholism, or alcohol dependence, is a disease that causes

  • Craving - a strong need to drink
  • Loss of control - not being able to stop drinking once you've started
  • Physical dependence - withdrawal symptoms
  • Tolerance - the need to drink more alcohol to feel the same effect

With alcohol abuse, you are not physically dependent, but you still have a serious problem. The drinking may cause problems at home, work, or school. It may cause you to put yourself in dangerous situations, or lead to legal or social problems.

Another common problem is binge drinking. It is drinking about five or more drinks in two hours for men. For women, it is about four or more drinks in two hours.

Too much alcohol is dangerous. Heavy drinking can increase the risk of certain cancers. It can cause damage to the liver, brain, and other organs. Drinking during pregnancy can harm your baby. Alcohol also increases the risk of death from car crashes, injuries, homicide, and suicide.

You may have an AUD if you can answer yes to two or more of these questions:

In the past year, have you

  • Ended up drinking more or for a longer time than you had planned to?
  • Wanted to cut down or stop drinking, or tried to, but couldn't?
  • Spent a lot of your time drinking, or recovering from drinking?
  • Felt a strong need to drink?
  • Found that drinking - or being sick from drinking - often interfered with your family life, job, or school?
  • Kept drinking even though it was causing trouble with your family or friends?
  • Given up or cut back on activities that you enjoyed just so you could drink?
  • Gotten into dangerous situations while drinking or after drinking? Some examples are driving drunk and having unsafe sex.
  • Kept drinking even though it was making you feel depressed or anxious? Or when it was adding to another health problem?
  • Had to drink more and more to feel the effects of the alcohol?
  • Had withdrawal symptoms when the alcohol was wearing off? They include trouble sleeping, shakiness, irritability, anxiety, depression, restlessness, nausea, and sweating. In severe cases, you could have a fever, seizures, or hallucinations.

If you have any of these symptoms, your drinking may already be a cause for concern. The more symptoms you have, the more serious the problem is. If you think you might have an AUD, see your health care provider for an evaluation. Your provider can help make a treatment plan, prescribe medicines, and if needed, give you treatment referrals.

NIH: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism


[Learn More]

Liver Diseases

Your liver is the largest organ inside your body. It helps your body digest food, store energy, and remove poisons.

There are many kinds of liver diseases:

  • Diseases caused by viruses, such as hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C
  • Diseases caused by drugs, poisons, or too much alcohol. Examples include fatty liver disease and cirrhosis.
  • Liver cancer
  • Inherited diseases, such as hemochromatosis and Wilson disease

Symptoms of liver disease can vary, but they often include swelling of the abdomen and legs, bruising easily, changes in the color of your stool and urine, and jaundice, or yellowing of the skin and eyes. Sometimes there are no symptoms. Tests such as imaging tests and liver function tests can check for liver damage and help to diagnose liver diseases.


[Learn More]

ICD-10 Footnotes

General Equivalence Map Definitions
The ICD-10 and ICD-9 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.

Previous Code: K70.4

Related Codes

Next Code: K70.41