Radiology Coding Alert

Question: We recently performed a transcranial Doppler study on a patient who has sickle-cell disease to discover if her condition had caused a minor stroke. How should we code this study?

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Answer: Doppler studies are performed regularly often annually on patients with sickle cell for this reason. It should be reported with 93886 (transcranial Doppler study of the intracranial arteries; complete study). The diagnosis code should be selected from the 282.6x section of the ICD-9 manual, e.g., 282.60, sickle-cell anemia, unspecified.
 
This technique is used to measure cerebrovascular blood velocities by directing pulses of ultrasound toward vascular formations at the base of the skull. Velocity of blood moving through the vessels is reflected in the frequent shifts in the sound. Images are also constructed during the study. This information allows the physician to visualize any vascular lesions. By changing the transducer location, angle and its depth setting, velocities from the cerebral arteries, internal carotids, basilar and vertebral arteries can be sampled.