I63.419

Billable

Cerebral infarction due to embolism of unspecified middle cerebral artery

HCC Category Mapping

V28HCC 249 — Ischemic or Unspecified Stroke

0.289

V24HCC 100 — Ischemic or Unspecified Stroke

0.262

ESRDHCC 100 — Ischemic or Unspecified Stroke

0.000

What This Code Means

A stroke caused by a blood clot blocking blood flow in the middle cerebral artery of the brain, but the specific side (left or right) is not documented.

Coding Tips

•Query the provider if laterality (left, right, or bilateral) can be determined from clinical documentation or imaging reports
•This code should only be used when the specific side of the middle cerebral artery cannot be determined

Clinical Significance

This code identifies an acute ischemic stroke caused by embolism (a clot originating from a distant source such as the heart or proximal vasculature) lodging in the unspecified middle cerebral artery. The middle cerebral artery supplies the lateral cerebral cortex including motor and sensory areas for the face and upper extremity, as well as language areas (Broca's and Wernicke's) in the dominant hemisphere. Accurate coding of the mechanism, artery, and laterality is critical for risk adjustment and tracking stroke subtypes for quality measures and secondary prevention strategies.

Documentation Requirements

✓Provider documentation of acute cerebral infarction (stroke) as a confirmed diagnosis, not rule-out or suspected
✓Identification of the affected artery as the middle cerebral artery
✓Documentation of laterality (unspecified) supported by clinical findings and/or imaging
✓Documentation that embolism is the underlying mechanism, with workup for embolic source (echocardiogram, cardiac monitoring for atrial fibrillation, carotid evaluation)
✓Neurological examination findings consistent with the identified vascular territory (e.g., contralateral hemiparesis (face and arm worse than leg), hemisensory loss, and aphasia (dominant hemisphere) or neglect (non-dominant hemisphere))
✓Brain imaging (computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging) confirming acute infarction
✓Timing of symptom onset to confirm acute presentation
✓Documentation of stroke severity (National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score preferred)
✓Treatment administered (thrombolytics, thrombectomy, antiplatelet therapy, anticoagulation)

Commonly Confused Codes

I63.319 — Cerebral infarction due to thrombosis of unspecified middle cerebral artery; use for thrombotic rather than embolic mechanism I69.3xx — Sequelae of cerebral infarction; use for residual deficits from a prior stroke during follow-up visits, not during the acute event G45.9 — Transient cerebral ischemic attack, unspecified; use when symptoms resolve completely within 24 hours with no evidence of infarction on imaging

Code Hierarchy

└I63Cerebral infarction └I63.4Cerebral infarction due to embolism of cerebral arteries └I63.41Cerebral infarction due to embolism of middle cerebral artery └I63.419Cerebral infarction due to embolism of unspecified middle cerebral artery

└I63.419Cerebral infarction due to embolism of unspecified middle cerebral artery