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Tunneled LV Lead Without Pacemaker Insertion

Date: Sep 20, 2019

Question:

Procedure was repair of aortic dissection with tube graft and aortic root replacement and tricuspid valve replacement. At the end of the procedure the physician tunneled an LV lead into a subcutaneous or likely subpectoral pocket because the likelihood of needing a pacemaker was high due to tricuspid replacement and double valve surgery. Pacemaker was not inserted at this time. Code 33225 can only be billed with pacemaker codes and defib code, as it is an add-on code. Can the cardiothoracic surgeon bill for this, and if so what code would you recommend? Would it be 17999 unlisted?

Question ID : 13043
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