Confused!!!

Which comes first?
Hypertension due to atherosclerosis.

I keep wanting to say the hypertension would be coded first because it
is caused by the atherosclerosis, but then I think no. I can never get
the due to or the with right. Please explain how to determine which comes first.

Thanks

re: Confused!!!

For physician coding:

If there are no ICD-10 sequencing instructions, then this is a clinical decision, not a coding one.

When I look at I10 and I70, there are no notes "code first" or "use additional code."

Code them in the order in which your clinician has listed them. I am adding the "for physician coding" because I don't do DRG coding. If there are additional rules about that, I don't know them.

Betsy