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Repair of the pericardium using a Vascu-Guard patch

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ritakstewart

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Princeton, TX
New to thoracic coding and I have a question. My doc did bypass surgery and when he was through with this part he says due to the proximity of the right ventricle to the undersurface of the sterum he placed a patch which was anastomosed to the pericardium and then the sternum was closed. Can I bill for this or is it considered part of the closing?

What is the cpt code for this?
 
Just happen to see this question while I was looking up something else in the STS coding workshop book.

Under the coding tips section it states: when "Pericardial closure when done in conjunction with a cardiac procedure where it is required to create the pericardial defect as part of the primary procedure, the pericardial defect repair is considered included in the primary procedure and the pericardial repair should not be reported separately regardless of how it is accomplished (pericardial patch, Gortex patch, acellular matrix graft, suture closure"

I know this is late but maybe you'll look back at this post

HTH
Dorinda, CPC
 
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