Good morning,
During a left heart cath the physician performed a thrombectomy in numerous areas. Due to the thrombectomy he needed to perform a intra-procedure defibrillation due to SVT.
Would the intra-procedure defibrillation be considered a cardioversion during the cath?
Thank you!
We are in the process to get the solution for you. Please bear till the time. Thanks
Based on the following excerpts from CPT Assistant, Nov. 2000, emergency defibrillation would not be coded separately from cardiac cath. (A truly separate, elective cardioversion could be if requirements are met.)
Here are the excerpts:
Elective Cardioversion
“CPT codes 92960 and 92961 are used to report cardioversion. … The electric shock given in cardioversion is synchronized (ie, timed to occur during the R wave of the electrocardiogram). … Code 92961 is designated as a separate procedure. Internal elective cardioversion is not separately reported when performed as an integral component of another procedure/service as in an electrophysiological study or cardiac catheterization. However, if the internal elective cardioversion is performed independently, unrelated or distinct from other procedure(s)/service(s) provided at that time, then it would be appropriate to separately report the internal cardioversion. …”
Nonelective Emergency Defibrillation
“… The timing of the defibrillation shock is not synchronized to the cardiac cycle (ie, it is not delivered during an R wave). …There is no CPT code to report defibrillation as a procedure performed in isolation. Defibrillation may be performed as part of critical care services, at the end of open heart surgery, during cardiac catheterization and coronary angiography, or during an electrophysiological procedure. Defibrillation is often a component of cardiac resuscitation, especially in adults. In all of these situations, defibrillation is not a separately reportable service.”
