Cardiology Coding Alert

Question: When an encounter includes both coil embolization and coronary stent placement, which codes should I use?

Washington Subscriber

Answer: The answer depends on the nature of the service. CPT® guidelines with embolization codes 37241-37244 explain it this way:

• If the cardiologist places the stent to provide a structure to deploy the coils, report an embolization code instead of a stent code
• If the cardiologist uses the stent as the sole method of managing an aneurysm, pseudoaneurysm, or vascular extravasation, then use the stent deployment code.