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Pulmonary Insufficiency with Mitral, Tricuspid and Aortic Insufficiency

Date: Nov 7, 2019

Question:

When coding a diagnostic test, such as an echocardiogram, and the patient has mitral, tricuspid, and aortic insufficiency, we are to use the combination code I08.3. However, what code should we use when a patient has all of the above PLUS pulmonary insufficiency? Since pulmonary insufficiency defaults to nonrheumatic, we would ordinarily choose I37.1, but the "excludes" note under the I08 codes tells us we cannot code both an I08 code with an I37 code. What would be the proper code(s) to use if all four valves are involved?

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