H71.9 Unspecified cholesteatoma

Not billable (header)Chapter 8

Report one of the more specific codes below.

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Codes under this one

H71.90 Unspecified cholesteatoma, unspecified ear
H71.91 Unspecified cholesteatoma, right ear
H71.92 Unspecified cholesteatoma, left ear
H71.93 Unspecified cholesteatoma, bilateral

Instructional notes

Chapter 8

Excludes2Not included here: the patient may have both; report both when both are present.

certain conditions originating in the perinatal period (P04-P96)
certain infectious and parasitic diseases (A00-B99)
complications of pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium (O00-O9A)
congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities (Q00-Q99)
endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases (E00-E88)
injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes (S00-T88)
neoplasms (C00-D49)
symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified (R00-R94)

Notes

Use an external cause code following the code for the ear condition, if applicable, to identify the cause of the ear condition

H71

Excludes2Not included here: the patient may have both; report both when both are present.

cholesteatoma of external ear (H60.4-)
recurrent cholesteatoma of postmastoidectomy cavity (H95.0-)

Chapter 8: Diseases of the ear and mastoid process · H65-H75 Diseases of middle ear and mastoid (H65-H75)

Source: ICD-10-CM FY 2027 code descriptions and tabular list (CMS and CDC National Center for Health Statistics), effective 2026-10-01 through 2027-09-30 · CMS ICD-10 files. HCC mapping: CMS-HCC V28, payment year 2027. As of 2026-11-04.

Coverage and payment depend on the claim details; confirm with the Medicare Administrative Contractor.