Ask Dr. Z

Got a question for you¦ I have a case here where the patient is coming in for angioplasty/stenting of the right common iliac artery (DOS 1-14-2010). The patient had a prior CT angiogram 11-13-2009 which was mentioned in the H&P and I did review the actual report. Essentially the same findings are seen in the prior study as what is seen in the current study; and there is nothing said by the MD that really gives medical necessity for a repeat study. I do believe that this is pretty cut and dry that the repeat study cannot be reported. However, my question is can the selective catheter placement still be reported even though the angiography is not going to be reported? In this case the right femoral was the puncture site. He takes the cath to the abdominal aorta for aortogram, then up and over to the left common femoral artery for left lower extremity angiography. At this point the cath placement is at 36246-LT. Then, he comes back to the right side, does injection for run-off, and performs angioplasty and stenting of the right common iliac artery. (If there had not been any angiography performed (or angiography of the right leg only), there would be no selective catheter placement; as the right side was the puncture site, and the right common iliac was the vessel intervened upon. The catheter placement code would be 36140-RT just for the puncture.) I am confused about whether to report the 36246-LT. Should this still be reported (even though the diagnostic study is not being reported)? I canâ?Tt find a specific resource to back that up. I looked in the Dr Z book and on the Q&A site. What do you think? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated! Pat