I26.90

Septic pulmonary embolism without acute cor pulmonale

FY2027Chapter 9: Diseases of the circulatory system/I26–I28 Pulmonary heart disease and diseases of pulmonary circulation

BillableComplete code, valid to report

I26.90 (also written I2690) is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code for septic pulmonary embolism without acute cor pulmonale. It is part of the FY2027 code set, effective October 1, 2026. It is one of the 12 codes in category I26 (Pulmonary embolism). The Alphabetic Index lists it under 1 entry. Its coding notes include a Code first instruction, 1 Excludes1 entry and 17 Excludes2 entries.

Code first

If the underlying condition listed here is present and known, sequence it first.

This code
  • underlying infection

Excludes1

Not coded here. The listed conditions generally should not be reported together.

Inherited from I26 Pulmonary embolism
  • cor pulmonale without embolism (I27.81)

Excludes2

Not included here. Both codes may be reported if the patient has both conditions.

Inherited from I26 Pulmonary embolism
  • chronic pulmonary embolism (I27.82)
  • personal history of pulmonary embolism (Z86.711)
  • pulmonary embolism complicating abortion, ectopic or molar pregnancy (O00-O07, O08.2)
  • pulmonary embolism complicating pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium (O88.-)
  • pulmonary embolism due to trauma (T79.0, T79.1)
  • pulmonary embolism due to complications of surgical and medical care (T80.0, T81.7-, T82.8-)
  • septic (non-pulmonary) arterial embolism (I76)
Also from chapter/block level (10 notes)
Inherited from Chapter 9 Diseases of the circulatory system
  • 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)
  • systemic connective tissue disorders (M30-M36)
  • transient cerebral ischemic attacks and related syndromes (G45.-)

Care settings

How CMS programs treat this code. These are CMS claim edits and list entries, not coverage or eligibility rules.

Hospice: not accepted as primary

Not accepted as the principal diagnosis on a hospice claim (bill types 081x and 082x). The Integrated OCE returns an edit for this code.
Reason: Supplementary or additional code, not allowed as principal diagnosis.

Source: CMS Integrated Outpatient Code Editor (IOCE) v27.3, effective October 1, 2026, edit 113

Hospital MCC

Counts as a major complication or comorbidity (MCC) when reported as a secondary diagnosis on an inpatient claim. It does not count when the principal diagnosis is one of the 25 codes in its exclusion list. Some MS-DRGs also ignore a CC or MCC that defines the DRG.

Source: CMS MS-DRG Definitions Manual v44, effective October 1, 2026, Appendix C

Includes

Further defines or gives examples of the content of the category.

Inherited from I26 Pulmonary embolism
  • pulmonary (acute) (artery)(vein) infarction
  • pulmonary (acute) (artery)(vein) thromboembolism
  • pulmonary (acute) (artery)(vein) thrombosis

Alphabetic Index terms

Terms the official Alphabetic Index lists for this code. 1 entry