CPT 33410: Aortic Valve Replacement with Stentless Prosthetic Valve
CPT code 33410 represents surgical replacement of the aortic valve using a stentless prosthetic valve and is used for treatment of aortic valve stenosis or regurgitation. This open cardiac surgical procedure is an important component of national cardiovascular surgical care because it addresses symptomatic valve disease that can lead to heart failure and other serious outcomes if untreated. The code captures a technically specialized operation with implications for clinical outcomes, resource use, and hospital facility billing.
Key payers covered in this analysis include Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna Health, UnitedHealthcare, and Medicare. Readers will find a concise overview of the clinical context for CPT code 33410, comparisons to related aortic valve replacement codes, and typical sites of service. The publication highlights coding considerations relevant to surgical aortic valve replacement with a stentless prosthesis, summarizes how the procedure is categorized across payers, and outlines common claims-level modifiers and billing relationships for facility and professional lines.
This national-level summary is intended to orient clinical, coding, and revenue cycle stakeholders to the primary purpose of CPT code 33410, the clinical indications it addresses, and the billing context in which it is commonly reported.
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Billing Code Overview
CPT code 33410 describes surgical replacement of the aortic valve with a stentless prosthetic valve. The procedure involves removing the diseased native aortic valve and implanting an artificial valve that is not mounted on a stent or frame, which can offer improved hemodynamics and different surgical implant options compared with stented prostheses.
Service type: **Cardiac surgical valve replacement (open aortic valve replacement)"
Typical site of service: Inpatient hospital operating room, often performed by cardiothoracic surgery teams.
National Reimbursement Benchmarks
Medicare’s national mean rate of $2394 sits notably below BUCA’s average commercial mean of $3100.6, indicating that commercial BUCA contracts pay about $706.6 more on average for CPT 33410 than Medicare. The gap highlights a meaningful separation between Medicare reimbursement and one representative commercial aggregator; other commercial payers (e.g., Cigna, UnitedHealth Group) show even higher means, but the Medicare mean remains a central lower anchor at $2394.
Dispersion measured by the interquartile range (P75–P25) varies considerably across payers: Blue Cross Blue Shield has a range of $1,741.7, UnitedHealth Group $2,826.6, Cigna $2,735.5, Aetna $2,299.0, and BUCA $2,183.6. UnitedHealth Group displays the widest IQR, indicating the greatest middle-50% variability, while Blue Cross Blue Shield is the tightest among the named commercial payers. Medicare’s IQR is $190, reflecting relatively low middle-range variation compared with commercial payers.