Radiology Question for the Week of March 18, 2019

Question:

How would you code the following aortogram and selective catheterization patient encounter?

  1. Aortogram at the level of the renal arteries
  2. Selective catheterization of the right main renal artery
  3. Right renal artery angiogram
  4. Pressure measurement of the right side
  5. Selective catheterization of the left main renal artery
  6. Pressure measurement of the left side
  7. Left renal artery angiogram

Answer:

Only one code may be reported, and that is the following:

36252 Selective catheter placement (first-order), main renal artery and any accessory renal artery(s) for renal angiography, including arterial puncture and catheter placement(s), fluoroscopy, contrast injection(s), image postprocessing, permanent recording of images, and radiological supervision and interpretation, including pressure gradient measurements when performed, and flush aortogram when performed; bilateral

This case constitutes a bilateral first-order procedure. The above is a bundled, or complete, code that encompasses pressure measurements and abdominal aorta imaging when performed with selective renal angiography.

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