Inpatient Facility Coding & Compliance Alert

Question: An inpatient underwent a complete pericardiectomy without cardiopulmonary bypass. What is the correct CPT^® code for reporting this  procedure? Also, what would be the correct code for reporting subtotal pericardiectomy with a cardiopulmonary bypass?

Pennsylvania Subscriber

Answer: Typically, pericarditis is treated with pericardiectomy with or without cardiopulmonary bypass. For reporting these procedures, it is important to determine whether cardiopulmonary bypass was performed in each scenario.

The CPT^® code 33030 (Pericardiectomy, subtotal or complete; without cardiopulmonary bypass) should be reported in the case of the patient who underwent pericardiectomy without cardiopulmonary bypass.

The CPT^® code 33031 (Pericardiectomy, subtotal or complete; with cardiopulmonary bypass) should be reported in the case of patients who undergo pericardiectomy with bypass.