Quote:
Originally Posted by christinlal
Blue Cross Blue Shield has approved the surgery, I am still in shock and the fact that I will be able to go to Dr. Zeegers
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Best wishes from California for your path forward..
Good news on BCBS. I am
thumbs up+++ on the Blue Cross Blue Shield response for your case.
Revised September 11, 2011
Blue Cross Blue Shield Florida,
Medical Covergage Guidelines :
Total Disc Replacment (TDR) Total Disc Arthroplasty (TDA)
Cervical total disc replacement (TDR) at a single level
meets the definition of medical necessity when
ALL of the following criteria are met:
...
Lumbar total disc replacement is considered
experimental or investigational, as evidence is insufficient to determine whether artificial lumbar discs are beneficial in the short term.
================
MPOV ~
Cervical TDA / TDR two (2) year results are better than ACDF results. Cervical TDR results are better than the historical lumbar results from my limited readings and comparisons.
My neighbor got a Cervical TDR at the suggestion / recommendation of her surgeon (surprised me). She asked me about Cervical TDR and I was conservative. Anyway, my neighbor is expecting another child now.
Lumbar TDA / TDR results are ~better than fusion. The historical Lumbar differences are not as large as the cervical TDR population. Historical lumbar differences are measured by Charite and ProDisc.
Maverick v ALIF patient results were very good. I need to go to the source doc on Maverick to see if the rhBMP-2 was the cause of any complications in the ALIF patients causing a skew.