Summary & Overview
CPT 33602: Repair of Aortic or Pulmonary Semilunar Valve Regurgitation
CPT code 33602 covers surgical repair of aortic or pulmonary semilunar valve insufficiency, using sutures or a patch to correct regurgitation and restore valve competence. This intervention aims to prevent progressive ventricular dilation and loss of cardiac function caused by backward blood flow. Nationally, semilunar valve repair influences surgical quality metrics, perioperative resource use, and long-term cardiac outcomes, making accurate coding and clinical documentation important for case identification and performance measurement.
Key payers commonly involved in coverage and payment for this service include Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna Health, UnitedHealthcare, and Medicare. Readers will find a concise clinical context for the procedure, common settings where the service is delivered, and what typical documentation should communicate to support the code. The publication also summarizes how this code fits into cardiac surgical service lines and what operational stakeholders should expect in terms of inpatient surgical workflow and resource implications.
This summary is intended for national audiences, including coding professionals, hospital administrators, and clinical teams, to provide a clear description of the procedure represented by CPT code 33602, its clinical rationale, and the payer landscape addressed in the companion sections.
Billing Code Overview
CPT code 33602 describes surgical repair of an insufficient semilunar valve (aortic or pulmonary) to correct regurgitation. The procedure addresses a leaky semilunar valve that allows blood to flow backward into the heart, reducing cardiac output and causing ventricular enlargement and dysfunction. Repair techniques use sutures or a patch to restore valve competence and limit further ventricular strain.
Service Type: Cardiac surgical valvuloplasty/valve repair
Typical Site of Service: Inpatient hospital operating room or cardiac surgical suite, often performed by cardiothoracic surgery teams during open or minimally invasive cardiac procedures.
Clinical & Coding Specifications
Clinical Context
A typical patient is a 58-year-old with progressive exertional dyspnea, fatigue, and a new holosystolic murmur found on exam. Echocardiography demonstrates moderate-to-severe aortic regurgitation with left ventricular dilation and reduced ejection fraction. After medical optimization and preoperative risk assessment, the patient is scheduled for surgical repair of the leaking semilunar valve. In the operating room under general anesthesia, the cardiothoracic surgery team performs median sternotomy, places the patient on cardiopulmonary bypass, inspects the aortic valve, and repairs the regurgitant leaflet with targeted sutures and/or pericardial patch augmentation to restore coaptation. Transesophageal echocardiography is used intraoperatively to confirm valve competence before weaning from bypass. Typical perioperative workflow includes preoperative evaluation by cardiology and anesthesia, surgical repair by a cardiothoracic surgeon, intraoperative TEE by cardiology or anesthesiology, and postoperative ICU monitoring with serial echos and anticoagulation management as indicated.
Coding Specifications
| Modifier | Description | When to Use |
|---|---|---|
00 | Unspecified | Rarely used; reserved when no other modifier applies |
11 |