Coding of stented vessels in acute myocardial infarction

Q.

When a patient comes in with a diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction and we stent what we feel is the culprit vessel (LAD) but also place a stent in another vessel (RCA), is it appropriate to assign CPT^® code 92941 twice or should we assign CPT codes 92941 and 92928?

A.

Generally, you can only assign CPT code 92941 once as it is reported only for intervention of the culprit lesion. For the treatment of another vessel that is not a culprit lesion, report a “regular” CPT code such as 92928. In your case, you would report 92941-LD and 92928-RC. Had the other vessel treated been a branch of the LAD, you would report 92941-LD and 92929-LD.