Abdominal Aortography Interp Might Be Payable With Heart Cath

Added payment may be gained for any abdominal aortography carried out during the same session for example a left heart cath with aortography of the aortic root however only if documentation specifies that the intent of the abdominal aortography was the treatment of a dissimilar problem. This expert medical coding article gives you CPT code lookup tips and more.

Procedure notes thus need to document clearly and accurately (by including, for example, a second diagnosis) that the additional aortography was separate from the heart cath.

When a left heart cath is done, aortography as well as the more distinctive angiography of the left coronary chambers as well as the coronary arteries may be carried out to get images of the aortic root (where the aorta joins the heart). For this particular procedure, once you execute CPT code lookup, 93544 (injection procedure during cardiac catheterization; for aortography) is reported with 93556 (imaging supervision, interpretation and report for injection procedure[s] during cardiac catheterization; pulmonary angiography, aortography and/or selective coronary angiography including venous bypass grafts and arterial conduits [whether native or used in bypass]).

Any images gained from injections in the ascending aorta (the first section of the aorta, defined as the section from the left ventricle to the arch, or bend) are encompassed in CPT codes 93544/93556. 93544 includes positioning the catheter in the ascending aorta which is above the aortic valve. It does not, though, describe abdominal aortography.

Abdominal aortography may be carried out following a heart cath. For instance, the cardiologist may have trouble passing a guidewire plus catheter from the access site (the femoral artery) to the aorta as the patient has tortuous arteries (defined as twisted and full of turns).

In case the coronary problem needs urgent attention, the cardiologist may carry out the heart cath first. When the catheter is being removed via the aorta, another injection is done to image the abdominal aorta or other arteries (such as the renal, iliac and femoral arteries).

Abdominal aortography and heart cath may as well be carried out simultaneously in case the patient has a supplementary problem (such as hip pain or leg cramps) that the cardiologist wants to evaluate at the same time.

CPT Code Lookup tip: Even though aortography of the aortic root (or elsewhere in the ascending aorta) has already been carried out, and reported using CPT codes 93544/93556, the supervision as well as interpretation of the abdominal aortogram (which reflects the manipulation of the catheter as well as the interpretation of the images) must be distinctly payable using either 75625 (aortography, abdominal, by serialography, radiological supervision and interpretation) if only the aorta is imaged, or CPT code 75630 ( . . . plus bilateral iliofemoral lower extremity, catheter, by serialography, radiological supervision and interpretation) in case images of the iliac and/or femoral arteries are also gained.