General Surgery Coding Alert

Your surgeons’ op reports might use a variety of terms for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair procedures using new CPT® 2014 codes 34841-34848 (Endovascular repair of … aorta (e.g., aneurysm, pseudoaneurysm, dissection, penetrating ulcer, intramural hematoma, or traumatic disruption) by deployment of a fenestrated visceral aortic endograft … and all associated radiological supervision and interpretation, including target zone angioplasty, when performed …).

We’ve scoped out a few of the common words you’ll need to know to select the proper fenestrated endovascular aortic aneurysm repair (FEVAR) code:

Endograft: Aortic stent graft placed with the use of an endoscope, also known as an endoluminal graft.

Fenestrated: All of the new codes refer to a fenestrated endograft. Fenestrated means the endograft contains holes. The holes line up with the arteries branching from the aorta, preserving the blood flow and also allowing selective catheterization and placement of an endoprosthesis through the fenestration into the visceral branch.

Visceral and infrarenal aorta: To use these codes, you also have to understand the anatomy of the aorta. The visceral aorta is the area of the upper abdominal aorta containing the celiac, superior mesenteric, and renal arteries. The infrarenal aorta is the abdominal aorta below the kidneys.