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Neurosurgery Coding Alert

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Base Parietooccipital Craniotomy Code Choice on Tumor Location

Published on Sat Jan 08, 2011

Question: Can you help me with this operative report for a parietooccipital craniotomy? I am thinking of reporting 61518 (Craniectomy for excision of brain tumor, infratentorial or posterior fossa; except meningioma, cerebellopontine angle tumor, or midline tumor at base of skull) but need confirmation that this would be correct.Description: The patient received a stereotactic-planning MRI. Data was entered into the StealthStation and preoperative planning was performed, outlining the enhancing mass in the left parietooccipital region. The patient is a 57 year old gentleman who had received stereotactic radiosurgery to an AVM to this location nearly 20 years ago, and preoperatively the question was whether he had vascular malformation or a lesion, radiation necrosis or a tumor. The patient's head was fixated to the operative table in the lateral position with the left side up, and the patient's left parietooccipital temporal cranium was prepped & draped in the usual manner.After prep [...]
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