C44.21Basal cell carcinoma of skin of ear and external auricular canal

C44.21 is the ICD-10-CM diagnosis code for basal cell carcinoma of skin of ear and external auricular canal. It belongs to category C44 (other and unspecified malignant neoplasm of skin), block C43-C44 (melanoma and other malignant neoplasms of skin) and chapter 2 (neoplasms). It is a header code, so it can't be reported by itself; one of its 3 subcodes must be used instead.

Within C44.2 (other and unspecified malignant neoplasm of skin of ear and external auricular canal), C44.21 is specifically for basal cell carcinoma of skin of ear and external auricular canal. Related codes cover unspecified malignant neoplasm of skin of ear and external auricular canal (C44.20), squamous cell carcinoma of skin of ear and external auricular canal (C44.22) and other specified malignant neoplasm of skin of ear and external auricular canal (C44.29).

To report this condition, pick the subcode that matches the documentation: C44.211 (canal), C44.212 (canal) and C44.219 (canal).

It has been part of ICD-10-CM since the code set took effect on October 1, 2015 and hasn't changed since.