AHA Coding Clinic® for ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS - 2014 Issue 4; Ask the Editor

Acute Cor Pulmonale due to Pulmonary Hypertension without Mention of Pulmonary Embolus

A patient with a known history of pulmonary hypertension, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and cor pulmonale presents with new-onset shortness of breath, increasing peripheral edema and severe abdominal distension due to decompensated right heart failure. The patient was treated with aggressive diuresis and oxygen supplementation. The physician listed “right heart failure, decompensated cor pulmonale secondary to severe pulmonary hypertension” in his final diagnostic statement. How should acute cor pulmonale be coded when there is no documentation of pulmonary embolism? ...

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