Organisation: Univerzitná nemocnica L. Pasteura Košice

Created at: 31.03.2026 23:59:24

Question

The mSTA marker values are not intuitive to enter for various types of spinal diseases and injuries; for a specific vertebral lesion, the physician does not know which interval to select, e.g., for a C3 lesion—should they select the mSTA marker value C0-C7 or C3-C7?

Answer

Thank you for your suggestion. The type of disease (and consequently the medical service) is specified in Annexes 8b and 8c 12 for the Spinal Surgery Program, and in Annexes 7b and 7c for the Spinal Surgery Program for Children. The diagnosis determines the relevant diagnosis group, which, together with the procedure and the mSTA marker, constitutes the medical service. For this reason, it is not necessary to use a conversion table for the original 93 procedures, as these have been abolished and replaced by a combination of diagnoses and procedures. For a C3 lesion in an adult patient, the mSTA marker interval is determined based on the type of disease and the corresponding diagnosis group. Therefore, different mSTA intervals may be used for the same anatomical location. For example, for a C3 lesion, the C0–C7 interval is used for the tumor group and the degenerative disease group, the C3–C7 interval is used for the group of injuries without neurological deficit, the group of instability, and the group of inflammatory and metabolic conditions, and the C0–CO interval is used for the group of degenerative deformities in adulthood and the group of congenital deformities treated in adulthood. When reporting, it is therefore necessary to base the classification on the diagnosis group determined by the diagnosis.