ICD 10 Coding Alert

Question: How do I code cystic fibrosis in a pediatric patient?

Codify Subscriber

Answer: Cystic fibrosis is a genetic condition that causes progressive damage to the lungs, and is typically diagnosed within the first month after a child is born. When your pulmonologist confirms a CF diagnosis, you should look toward the ICD-10 code range E84.0-E84.9.

Suppose the pulmonologist sees a CF patient showing pulmonary exacerbation. She will order a direct sputum acid-fast stain and culture for identifying the mycobacteria. In this situation, although the code E84.9 (Cystic fibrosis, unspecified) covers the general condition, you should consider going deeper into the family of codes to find a specific code.

In this case, you can use E84.0 (Cystic fibrosis with pulmonary manifestations) since the physician clearly stated “pulmonary exacerbation” in the narrative description. Once the organism has been identified, then an additional code to represent the organism can be reported for any further services.