2025 CPT code 36522
Effective Date: N/A Surgery - Surgical Procedures on the Cardiovascular System Feed
Extracorporeal photopheresis.
Medical necessity is determined by the patient's diagnosis, severity of the condition, and lack of response to other standard therapies. Specific diagnoses covered by payers may vary.
In simple words: This procedure treats certain blood disorders and immune conditions. Blood is taken from the patient, the white blood cells are separated and treated with a medicine, and then exposed to a special type of light. The treated blood cells are then returned to the patient's body.
Extracorporeal photopheresis is a procedure where blood is drawn from a patient, white blood cells are separated, treated with 8-methoxypsoralen (8-MOP) and then exposed to ultraviolet A (UVA) light, and re-infused into the patient.
Example 1: A patient with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma unresponsive to other therapies undergoes extracorporeal photopheresis., A patient experiencing graft-versus-host disease following a bone marrow transplant receives extracorporeal photopheresis., A patient with acute cardiac allograft rejection refractory to standard treatment receives extracorporeal photopheresis.
Documentation should include the medical necessity for the procedure, details of the patient's condition and prior treatments, the process of photopheresis including medication and light exposure, and post-procedure patient status.
- Specialties:Hematology, Oncology, Immunology, Dermatology, Cardiology, Transplant Surgery
- Place of Service:Inpatient Hospital