In simple words: Miliary TB is a serious type of tuberculosis (TB) where the bacteria spread through your blood to many different organs, like tiny seeds. It can cause a range of symptoms like fever, tiredness, and coughing. If not treated, it can be life-threatening.

Acute miliary tuberculosis is a rare but severe form of tuberculosis (TB) caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria entering the bloodstream and spreading to multiple organs. Symptoms can include fever, weight loss, weakness, cough, night sweats, and organ-specific symptoms depending on the sites involved (lungs, liver, spleen, kidneys, brain, etc.).

Example 1: A 25-year-old patient presents with fever, night sweats, and weight loss. Chest X-ray reveals miliary infiltrates, and a sputum culture confirms Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The patient is diagnosed with acute miliary tuberculosis of the lungs., An infant with a persistent cough, failure to thrive, and hepatosplenomegaly undergoes a liver biopsy revealing granulomas consistent with miliary tuberculosis. , An immunocompromised patient presents with sepsis-like symptoms.Blood cultures grow Mycobacterium tuberculosis, leading to a diagnosis of nonreactive miliary TB.

Documentation should include clinical findings (fever, cough, weight loss, etc.), diagnostic test results (chest X-ray, CT scan, TB tests, cultures), and details about the affected organ systems.

** Miliary TB can affect multiple organ systems, making accurate coding crucial.If the specific site of infection is known, use more specific codes (e.g., A17.8 for miliary tuberculosis of the bone). If the patient also has latent tuberculosis infection, code Z22.1 should be assigned as a secondary diagnosis. Code Z16.- may be used to identify resistance to antimicrobial drugs if documented.