Felty's syndrome

Felty's syndrome is a rare, severe complication of long-standing rheumatoid arthritis characterized by the triad of rheumatoid arthritis, splenomegaly (enlarged spleen), and neutropenia (low white blood cell count). Patients often present with recurrent infections, leg ulcers, and an increased risk of lymphoma.

This code is used when documentation clearly indicates a diagnosis of Felty's syndrome in a patient with rheumatoid arthritis, splenomegaly, and neutropenia. It should be assigned when the physician explicitly states this diagnosis or when all three characteristic components are documented and attributed to this specific syndrome.

• Always code the underlying rheumatoid arthritis first, followed by this code for Felty's syndrome.
• Ensure documentation explicitly links splenomegaly and neutropenia to the rheumatoid arthritis to support this diagnosis.
• Do not use this code if only rheumatoid arthritis and splenomegaly are present without documented neutropenia, or vice versa.