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 2022. The coding advice may or may not be outdated.

epicardial lead placement and generator removal with upgrade to bivent PM

Date: Jun 20, 2022

Question:

How would you code the following?

"3 cm left chest incision was made and two LV epicardial pacemaker leads were placed. GBM 511 served as the primary new epicardial lead and GBM 5112 was placed as a back up. Both leads had excellent pacing and sensing thresholds. The left pacemaker incision was reopened and the DDD pacer was explanted. The two epicardial leads were tunneled into the pacer pocket and all leads were connected to a new St Jude Allure RF biventricular pacemaker model # PM..."

It's been quite some time since I've coded pacemakers, so I am unsure of the appropriate codes here. I was thinking 33202 for the epicardial lead placement via thoracotomy and 33228 for the removal and replacement of the pacemaker pulse generator. Am I close on this?

Question ID : 17394
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!