Please note this question was answered in 2013. The coding advice may or may not be outdated.
Carotid and Vertebrals
Question:
I have a question regarding code 36226: In scenario A the patient was brought in for an angio due to SAH. The physician catheterized the left ascending cervical artery, the findings read: "Left vertebral artery origin is occluded. The ascending cervical artery reconstitutes the distal left vertebral artery which supplies the PICA. No aneurysm is seen. No AVM." Code 36225 doesn't capture the catheterization, but code 36226 states it should be the vertebral artery. What is appropriate to code?
In scenario B the patient was also brought in for an angio due to SAH. However, the physician bilaterally catheterized the subclavian, costocervical & thyrocervical arteries to rule out cervicalmedullary AVM. Findings for all arteries read: "No evidence of AV shunting." (The vertebrals, ICAs, and ECAs were all imaged as well.) Would the evaluation of the subclavians, costocervicals, and thyrocervicals be seen as inherent within codes 36224, 36226, and 36227? Can code 36228 be used to capture this additional work?
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!