Ask Dr. Z

Ask Dr. Z Knowledge Base houses over 7,500 coding questions and answers dating back to 2013.

Ask Dr. Z Disclaimer

Please note this question was answered in 2019. The coding advice may or may not be outdated.

CPT's "recognized" coronary artery branches

Date: Aug 6, 2019

Question:

Per CPT, "Up to two coronary artery branches of the LAD (diagonals), LCX (marginals), and right (posterior descending, posterolaterals) coronary arteries are recognized." Can you please explain what this means and how it impacts CPT coding for coronary interventions? Does it mean that only branches with these names are eligible to have their interventions coded? For example, if the physician performs an angioplasty in the mid RCA and then angioplasties a branch of the RCA - but not a PDA or a posterolateral - may we report 92921 in addition to 92920? Also, if, for example, the PDA branches off the LCX instead of the RCA, can we still consider it to be a branch for interventional coding purposes?

Question ID : 12883
Sign up for a membership to view the answer to this question.

Need to ask Dr.Z?

Don't see the answer you're looking for in the knowledge base? No problem. You can ask Dr. Z directly!
Ask Dr. Z a question now!