Radiology Coding Alert

Question: The October 1999 Radiology Coding Alert included an article about 76375 (coronal, sagittal, multiplanar, oblique, 3-dimensional and/or holographic reconstruction of computerized tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, or other tomographic modality). I believe your sources recommendation is too liberal. The example in your story was an MRI of the abdomen (see below) that includes direct imaging in three planes, not reconstructed images. The American College of Radiology (ACR) has told me that 76375 should be used only when actual reconstructions are created. An example would be coronal and sagittal reconstruction done after axial CT images of the knee or orbits. ACR also told me that ordinary SPECT of the liver is always reconstructed in several planes for viewing and would not be considered additional reconstructed sections, as you indicated.

Anonymous Texas Subscriber

Answer: Further research and consultation with our editorial board members indicate that our reader is correct. The images described can be directly acquired in many planes. The key is not the documentation of the words sagittal or coronal, since these types of images can be obtained directly, but rather the word reconstruction.

Code 76375 would be appropriate if image data acquired in one planefor example, an axialare sent to the computer with the instruction to reconstruct the data in another planesagittal, for instance. In the case study presented, there was no documentation of reconstructed data, so proper coding would not include 76375.