Intravascular Ultrasound (IVUS)

Question:

How do we code for intravascular ultrasound of lower extremity vessels?  Can it be billed along with the placement of a lower extremity stent?

Answer:

Intravascular Ultrasound (IVUS), CPT code +37252 (noncoronary) and +37253 (noncoronary) for each additional vessel, can be coded when vessels are examined during a diagnostic procedure or before, during, or after a therapeutic intervention (e.g., stent or stent graft, angioplasty, atherectomy, embolization, thrombolysis, transcatheter biopsy).  However, if a lesion extends across the margins of one vessel into another, only one code should be reported.  These add-on codes must be reported with the appropriate base code. IVUS is included in the work of CPT codes 37191, 37192, 37193, and 37197 for intravascular vena cava filter (IVC) and should not be reported separately with those procedures. 

*This response is based on the best information available as of 12/5/24.