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  • Cornea CPT Ask the Expert Coding Competency

    Keratoptosthesis


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    Question: I perform combined surgery when the cornea is cloudy, and the retina surgeon needs to perform a vitrectomy. I begin by removing the patient's cornea and suturing in a temporary keratoprosthesis. The retinal surgeon then performs the vitrectomy. Afterwards, I cut all sutures, remove the temporary keratoprosthesis and put in a new cornea (PKP). Other than the PKP code, is there another code we should bill for this extensive, time-consuming surgery?

    Answer:
    From the Academy’s Coding Coach :

    65770     Keratoprosthesis

    One of the coding Clues:
    • Use CPT code 65770 when the surgeon removes the cornea and inserts the prosthesis. The retina surgeon performs a vitrectomy. The cornea surgeon removes the prosthesis, and a traditional transplant is performed.
    CPT code 65770 is not bundled with the corneal transplant code.