subject: CPT Code List 2010: Tackle This Lymph Node Scenario [print this page] CPT Code List 2010: Tackle This Lymph Node Scenario
Wondering when your pathologists' tissue prep services need reporting 88387-+88388?
Read on and study the following scenarios to get an idea of the services that would deserve 88387 or +88388 pay.
The most common specimen we might process using methods described by these codes is a lymph node. There is also the specimen that CPT lists as an example for these codes. Here's a sample case: During a quadrantectomy procedure, the surgeon requests a pathology consultation on sentinel lymph node(s) to determine the need for a lymphadenectomy. The doctor also wants a molecular diagnostics B-cell and T-cell clonality check for malignancy. The pathologist gets the sentinel lymph node (s) and proceeds with sterile technique in order to avoid nodal contamination that could compromise findings from molecular diagnostic testing. The pathologist identifies a 1.5-cm lymph node and teases it out of the surrounding fatty tissue. He also lands a 1-cm lymph node and dissects it out separately. The pathologist goes on to process each lymph node, keeping them separate to avoid cross contamination that could lead to false positive results. He cuts thin sections carefully from each node to submit for T-cell and B-cell clonality testing. v In the end, the pathologist freezes the remaining nodal tissue, preparing one block from each node, and examines the frozen sections to provide diagnostic findings to the surgeon in the operating room. For more on this, sign up for a one-stop medical coding website. When you sign up for one, you will have various articles to help you in your CPT coding. Such a website also has a CPT Assistant tool to help you in your coding.
