You Be the Coder:
Pituitary Adenoma With VF Defect
Published on Fri Apr 01, 2011
Question:
How would you code a visual field defect arising from pituitary adenoma?Florida Subscriber
Answer:
In this case, pituitary adenoma is most likely the cause of the visual field defect. Therefore, you would code the tumor as the secondary diagnosis with 239.7 (
Neoplasm of unspecified nature of other specified sites).
For the visual field examination, you can use any of the following CPT codes depending on the case:
- 92081 -- Visual field examination, unilateral or bilateral, with interpretation and report; limited examination (e.g., tangent screen, Autoplot, arc perimeter, or single stimulus level automated test, such as Octopus 3 or 7 equivalent)
- 92082 -- ... intermediate examination (e.g., at least 2 isopters on Goldmann perimeter, or semiquantitative, automated suprathreshold screening program, Humphrey suprathreshold automatic diagnostic test ...
- 92083 -- ... extended examination (e.g., Goldmann visual fields with at least 3 isopters plotted and static determination within the central 30 degrees, or quantitative automated threshold perimetry, Octopus program G-1, 32 or 42, Humphrey visual field analyzer full threshold programs 30-2, 24-2, or 30/60-2).
Visual fields also allow you to bill the field defect as your diagnosis code. For example, pituitary adenomas often show a heteronymous field defect (368.47). This diagnosis will work equally as well for the diagnosis, especially when the ophthalmologist finds the visual field before the endocrinologist finds the pituitary problem.