Medical Coding

Answer: D - Level 1 studies in the surgical pathology section of the Laboratory and Pathology chapter of the CPT manual describe gross examination only. A gross examination is an inspection of the entire surgical specimen without dividing it into blocks for microscopic examination. A gross examination is performed by the naked eye. Level 1 surgical pathology codes are the only codes that include a gross examination; the other five levels all include a microscopic examination at increasingly complicated levels.