Often when a patient is surgically treated for thyroid malignancy, multiple surgical procedures might be recommended and performed depending on the severity of the malignancy. Per STORE manual 2022 page 55 “when multiple first course procedures coded under the same item are performed for a primary, the most extensive or definitive is the last performed, and the code represents the cumulative effect of the separate procedures”….

The July 2022 CTR Coding Break titled Hematopoietic Transformations discusses why hematopoietic transformations occur, the difference between transformations to and transformations from, the multiple primary rules in the Hematopoietic Manual as well as walks through three case examples. Hematopoietic cancers are malignancies of immune system cells. Chronic neoplasms transform to acute/more severe neoplasms and are the most common form of transformation. Neoplasms may be diagnosed in…

Worldwide, Total Mesorectal Excision (TME) has become the gold standard treatment for middle and lower rectal cancer. Studies have demonstrated a TME improves local recurrence rates and the corresponding survival by as much as 20%. High-quality TME surgery reduces local recurrence from 20% to 30% and increases 5-year survival from 48% to 68%.  The June 2022 CTR Coding Break titled ‘STORE Manual 2022 Macroscopic Mesorectum’ discusses…

The May 2022 CTR Coding Break titled First Course vs Subsequent Treatment discusses first course and second course treatment standard setter definitions, the differences between the two courses as well as a few case examples. First course treatment is the initial plan of treatment, includes any modality of treatment and may last a year or more. First course treatment has an ending point with different scenarios…