THE VETRIFY CONDITION LIBRARY
Understand your condition.
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VA ratings can feel like a language of their own. Find your condition for a clearer look at the criteria, the evidence, and what to expect next.
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243 of 243 conditions · 15 body systems
Nine diagnostic codes share one rating formula. Our guide brings the criteria and connections together.
Each knee diagnostic code with its criteria quoted from the rating schedule.
Every condition-to-condition link these guides cover, grouped by the condition claimed as secondary.
Cardiovascular System19
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7110
Aortic Aneurysm
Aortic aneurysm involves abnormal bulging in the wall of the aorta that can rupture or require surgical repair.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7015
Atrioventricular Block
Atrioventricular block is a delay or interruption in the electrical signal travelling from the heart's upper chambers to its lower chambers. The schedule splits the code in two by degree of block. First-degree and second-degree Type I block are treated as benign and evaluated under the General Rating Formula for Diseases of the Heart, so the percentage turns on the exertion your heart tolerates before heart failure symptoms appear. Second-degree Type II and third-degree block are treated as non-benign and evaluated under DC 7018, the code for implantable cardiac pacemakers.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7122
Cold Injury Residuals
Damage from frostbite or cold exposure causing numbness, pain, skin discoloration or circulation issues.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7005
Coronary Artery Disease (CAD)
Coronary artery disease is the narrowing of the arteries that supply blood to the heart, usually from plaque buildup, which can cause chest pain (angina), shortness of breath, and fatigue with exertion. It's a PACT Act presumptive condition for many Vietnam-era veterans with qualifying Agent Orange exposure.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7119
Erythromelalgia
Erythromelalgia produces attacks of burning pain in the hands, feet, or both — usually on both sides and symmetrical — with the skin becoming warmer and red, and the schedule describes these attacks as occurring at warm ambient temperatures. DC 7119 rates the disease entirely on those attacks: how often they come, how long they average, whether they respond to treatment, and whether they restrict most routine daily activities. The code's Note states that these evaluations are for the disease as a whole, regardless of the number of extremities involved, so hands and feet are not evaluated separately under this code.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7101
Hypertension
Hypertension is chronically elevated blood pressure that, left unmanaged, raises the risk of heart attack, stroke, and kidney disease. It's one of the most common VA claims, both filed directly and as a PACT Act presumptive condition for many Vietnam-era veterans exposed to Agent Orange.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7007
Hypertensive Heart Disease
Hypertensive heart disease is heart damage caused by long-standing high blood pressure, which forces the heart to work harder over time and can lead to thickening of the heart muscle, reduced pumping efficiency, or heart failure. It's a PACT Act presumptive condition for many Vietnam-era veterans with qualifying Agent Orange exposure.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7008
Hyperthyroid Heart Disease
Hyperthyroid heart disease is cardiac impairment specifically caused by an overactive thyroid, where excess thyroid hormone overworks the heart, distinct from hyperthyroidism's other symptoms like weight loss or anxiety. Because this code requires showing the cardiac impact specifically, evidence connecting your thyroid diagnosis to actual heart findings is essential.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7018
Implantable Cardiac Pacemakers
DC 7018 is a short code that does two things. It assigns 100 percent for one month following hospital discharge for implantation or re-implantation of a pacemaker, and then it says "thereafter": evaluate as supraventricular tachycardia (DC 7010), ventricular arrhythmias (DC 7011), or atrioventricular block (DC 7015), with 10 percent as the minimum. So after the first month the pacemaker is not what is being rated — the rhythm or conduction disorder it was implanted for is, and the pacemaker only guarantees the floor. Its note adds one substitution that catches a lot of claims: evaluate automatic implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (AICDs) under DC 7011, not under this code.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7006
Myocardial Infarction (Heart Attack)
A myocardial infarction is a heart attack: blood flow to part of the heart muscle is cut off and that muscle is damaged. DC 7006 assigns 100 percent during the infarction and for three months following it, provided laboratory tests confirm it. After those three months the evaluation is reset under the General Rating Formula for Diseases of the Heart, which measures how much exertion your heart tolerates before heart failure symptoms appear.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7114
Peripheral Arterial Disease
Peripheral arterial disease is reduced arterial blood flow to a limb. Under DC 7114 the percentage is set by objective measurement rather than by symptoms: the ankle/brachial index (ABI), the ankle pressure, the toe pressure, or the transcutaneous oxygen tension. Each band lists all four measures, and meeting any one of them is enough. The lowest evaluation this code offers is 20 percent, and each affected limb is evaluated separately.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7121
Post-Phlebitic Syndrome
DC 7121 covers post-phlebitic syndrome of any etiology — lasting venous disease in a limb, whatever caused it. All of the code's criteria sit under one heading: the findings must be attributed to venous disease. What the bands measure is what the limb shows — swelling and whether elevating the limb relieves it, skin discoloration (stasis pigmentation) or eczema, hardening under the skin, and ulceration. The ladder runs from 0 percent for varicose veins that cause no symptoms up to 100 percent for massive board-like swelling with constant pain at rest, and each affected limb is evaluated separately.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7123
Soft Tissue Sarcoma (of Vascular Origin)
DC 7123 covers soft tissue sarcoma of vascular origin — a cancer arising in blood vessel tissue. The code has one evaluation and one only: 100 percent. Its Note keeps that 100 percent in place beyond the end of any surgical, X-ray, antineoplastic chemotherapy or other therapeutic procedure, and sets a mandatory VA examination six months after that treatment is discontinued. If there has been no local recurrence or metastasis by then, the evaluation is made on the residuals that remain.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7010
Supraventricular Tachycardia (SVT)
Supraventricular tachycardia is an abnormally fast heart rhythm arising above the ventricles. The schedule names atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter, sinus tachycardia, atrial tachycardia, junctional tachycardia, multifocal atrial tachycardia, and several reentrant tachycardias among its examples. What sets the rating is not how often you feel an episode but how many treatment interventions the rhythm required over a year — or, at the lower tier, whether it is controlled by continuous oral medication or by vagal maneuvers. Both tiers open with confirmation by ECG.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7004
Syphilitic Heart Disease
Syphilitic heart disease is heart disease caused by a syphilis infection. DC 7004 carries no rating percentages of its own — it is evaluated under the General Rating Formula for Diseases of the Heart. That means the percentage turns on how much physical work your heart tolerates before heart failure symptoms appear, on whether cardiac imaging shows the heart has thickened or enlarged, and on whether continuous medication is required to control the condition.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7115
Thromboangiitis Obliterans (Buerger’s Disease)
Buerger's disease is a rare condition causing inflammation and clotting in the small and medium blood vessels of the hands and feet, strongly associated with tobacco use, and it can lead to severe pain and, in advanced cases, tissue loss. Documenting your smoking and tobacco history, even though it's not something to hide, is actually relevant evidence since this disease is so closely tied to it.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7000
Valvular Heart Disease
Damage to one or more of the heart valves, leading to poor circulation, fatigue, and chest pain.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7120
Varicose Veins
Swollen, twisted veins visible under the skin, usually in the legs, causing aching, swelling, and fatigue.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7011
Ventricular Arrhythmias (Sustained)
DC 7011 states one evaluation of its own, 100 percent, and reaches it three ways: for an indefinite period from the date of inpatient hospital admission for initial medical therapy for a sustained ventricular arrhythmia; or for an indefinite period from the date of inpatient hospital admission for ventricular aneurysmectomy; or with an automatic implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (AICD) in place. The note is what ends it. Where inpatient hospitalization was required, the 100 percent begins on the date of hospital admission and a VA examination is mandatory six months following hospital discharge, and post-surgical residuals are then evaluated under the General Rating Formula for Diseases of the Heart. This is also the code an AICD is rated under — DC 7018's note sends implantable cardioverter-defibrillators here rather than to the pacemaker code.
Digestive System24
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7207
Barrett's Esophagus
DC 7207 splits on one question before it grades anything: is there an esophageal stricture? With a stricture, Barrett's esophagus is rated as esophagus, stricture of (DC 7203), and the percentage comes from that code's dilatation-and-treatment rows. Without a stricture, the code pays on the biopsy and nothing else — 30 percent documented by pathologic diagnosis with high-grade dysplasia, 10 percent with low-grade dysplasia. Two notes handle what happens next: if malignancy develops the rating moves to DC 7343, and if the condition is resolved by treatment the residuals are rated as esophageal stricture.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7307
Chronic Gastritis (Including H. pylori and Drug-Induced Gastritis)
Chronic gastritis is long-standing inflammation of the stomach lining, which can cause abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and bleeding. The schedule's Note puts several conditions under this one code: Helicobacter pylori infection, drug-induced gastritis, Zollinger-Ellison syndrome, and portal-hypertensive gastropathy with varix-related complications. DC 7307 carries no percentages of its own; the entry reads "Rate as peptic ulcer disease (DC 7304)", so the evaluation is built from that code's criteria.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7345
Chronic Liver Disease Without Cirrhosis
DC 7345 is the code the digestive schedule uses for chronic liver disease that has not become cirrhosis, and Note (3) says what it covers: hepatitis B confirmed by serologic testing, primary biliary cirrhosis, primary sclerosing cholangitis, autoimmune liver disease, Wilson's disease, alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency, hemochromatosis, drug-induced hepatitis, and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. Hepatitis C is tracked under its own code, DC 7354, but evaluated on these criteria. The ladder turns on three things and nothing else: whether the disease is progressive and requires continuous medication, whether there is minor or substantial weight loss, and how many of six named symptoms are present. The top tier is about treatment rather than symptoms — both parenteral antiviral and parenteral immunomodulatory therapy at once.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7312
Cirrhosis of the Liver
DC 7312 grades cirrhosis two ways at every tier, and the word "or" between them is the most useful thing on the page. Each evaluation can be met by a Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score inside a stated range — 6 to 10 for 10 percent, 10 or 11 for 30, above 11 and below 15 for 60, and 15 or more for 100 — or by a described clinical picture with no score at all. Note (3) makes that explicit: rate the condition based on symptomatology where the evidence does not contain a MELD score. Note (2) sets the price of admission for either route: biochemical studies, imaging studies, or biopsy must confirm liver dysfunction.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7326
Crohn's Disease and Inflammatory Bowel Disease (Chronic Enterocolitis)
Crohn's disease is chronic inflammation of the digestive tract. DC 7326 covers Crohn's disease and the undifferentiated form of inflammatory bowel disease, and the schedule's index also lists chronic enterocolitis under this code. Note (3) allows the inflammation to involve the small bowel (ileitis), the large bowel (colitis), or any component of the gastrointestinal tract from the mouth to the anus. The percentage follows how the disease is being managed — oral or topical agents, immunosuppressants or biologic agents, or treatment it no longer responds to — together with daily diarrhea episodes, recurrent abdominal pain, and signs of toxicity such as fever, tachycardia, or anemia.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7203
Esophageal Stricture
An esophageal stricture is a narrowing of the esophagus that causes dysphagia, or difficulty swallowing. What drives the rating is not the diagnosis but what it takes to control — daily medication, how often the esophagus has to be dilated, whether a stent is placed, and at the top of the scale aspiration, undernutrition, or substantial weight loss treated with surgical correction or a PEG tube. Note (3) also rates several forms of esophagitis under this code.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7206
Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD)
GERD is stomach acid and stomach contents flowing back up into the esophagus, causing heartburn, regurgitation and chest discomfort. DC 7206 has its own criteria table, and what that table measures is not how often heartburn occurs — every step is written around a documented esophageal stricture causing dysphagia (difficulty swallowing) and the treatment that stricture requires. Note (1) requires the findings to be documented by barium swallow, computerized tomography, or esophagogastroduodenoscopy.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7336
Hemorrhoids
Swollen veins in the rectum or anus that may bleed or cause discomfort.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7354
Hepatitis C
Hepatitis C is a viral infection of the liver. DC 7354 carries no criteria of its own — the schedule directs "Rate under DC 7345 (Chronic liver disease without cirrhosis)", and DC 7345's Note (3) says to track Hepatitis C under DC 7354 but evaluate it using DC 7345's criteria. What that table measures is the treatment the liver disease requires, weight loss, and a specific list of named symptoms — not the viral diagnosis by itself.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7338
Hernia, Including Inguinal, Femoral, Umbilical, Ventral, and Incisional
A hernia is a bulge that forms where the abdominal wall gives way and tissue pushes through. DC 7338 is a single code for hernias "including femoral, inguinal, umbilical, ventral, incisional, and other (but not including hiatal)" — hiatal and paraesophageal hernia is DC 7346. Every compensable evaluation here starts from the same footing: an irreparable hernia, new or recurrent, present for 12 months or more. From there the percentage is set by the hernia's size in one dimension and by how many named activities — bending over, activities of daily living, walking, climbing stairs — bring on pain.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7346
Hiatal Hernia
A hiatal hernia is part of the stomach pushing up through the diaphragm into the chest, which can cause reflux, chest discomfort and difficulty swallowing. DC 7346 carries no criteria of its own: the entry for hiatal hernia and paraesophageal hernia reads "Rate as esophagus, stricture of (DC 7203)." That means the evaluation is built on a documented esophageal stricture causing dysphagia and on the treatment it requires — dilatation, a stent, surgical correction or a feeding tube — rather than on how severe the reflux symptoms are.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7329
Intestine, Large, Resection of
DC 7329 grades a colectomy on what the surgery left behind, and its ladder is built from four facts: how much of the colon was removed, whether the bowel was reconnected or brought out as a permanent colostomy or ileostomy, whether there is high-output syndrome, and whether the ileocecal valve was lost. A partial colectomy with reanastomosis is 10 percent on its own. The same surgery with the ileocecal valve lost and diarrhea more than three times a day is 20. A permanent stoma after a partial colectomy is 40. A total colectomy is 60. The 100 percent tier requires three things at once — total colectomy with an ileostomy, high-output syndrome, and more than two episodes of dehydration requiring intravenous hydration in the past 12 months.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7319
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
A chronic condition causing abdominal discomfort, bloating, and frequent diarrhea and/or constipation.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7343
Malignant Neoplasms of the Digestive System
DC 7343 is the digestive system's cancer code, and it has one rating: 100 percent. The whole of its criteria is its own title — malignant neoplasms of the digestive system, exclusive of skin growths — so nothing about stage, site or treatment changes the percentage while it runs. What the code does carry is a note about when it stops: the 100 percent continues beyond the cessation of any surgical, X-ray, antineoplastic chemotherapy or other therapeutic procedure, and six months after that treatment is discontinued a mandatory VA examination determines the rating from then on.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7347
Pancreatitis, Chronic
Chronic pancreatitis is long-standing inflammation of the pancreas that causes recurring abdominal or mid-back pain and, as the gland fails, difficulty digesting and absorbing food. DC 7347 provides three evaluations — 30, 60 and 100 percent — and each is written around counted episodes of that pain, hospitalizations, and whether maldigestion and malabsorption require dietary restriction and pancreatic enzyme supplementation. Note (1) requires appropriate diagnostic studies to confirm that the abdominal pain results from pancreatitis.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7304
Peptic Ulcer Disease (Gastric, Duodenal, and Marginal Ulcers)
Peptic ulcer disease is an open sore in the lining of the stomach or the upper small intestine, causing abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and sometimes bleeding. DC 7304 is the schedule's peptic ulcer code — the index routes "Ulcer, peptic" here, and DC 7305 and DC 7306 are listed as removed. What sets the percentage is the pattern rather than the diagnosis: how long each episode of abdominal pain, nausea, or vomiting lasts, how many occurred in the past 12 months, whether daily prescribed medication is required, and whether bleeding, anemia, or surgery has been involved.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7301
Peritoneal Adhesions (Abdominal Adhesions)
Peritoneal adhesions are bands of scar tissue that form in the abdomen after surgery, trauma, disease, or infection. The schedule rates them on symptoms and treatment burden rather than on the adhesions themselves. The 10, 30, and 50 percent levels all begin from symptomatic adhesions with at least one of abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, colic, constipation, or diarrhea, and step up by adding medically-directed dietary modification and then hospitalization for recurrent obstruction. The 80 percent level is written separately, around persistent partial bowel obstruction. A history of adhesions that is currently asymptomatic is rated 0 percent.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7337
Pruritus Ani (Anal Itching)
Pruritus ani is itching of the skin around the anus. This code has one dividing line: whether the itching has produced bleeding or excoriation, meaning broken or abraded skin. With bleeding or excoriation the evaluation is 10 percent; without it, 0 percent. Ten percent is the maximum available under this diagnostic code.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7334
Rectal Prolapse
Rectal prolapse is the rectum protruding through the anus. The evaluation pairs two findings: how the prolapse reduces — on its own, only with manual help, or not at all — and whether it is repairable. Note (1) continues a 100 percent evaluation for two months after a repairable prolapse is repaired, after which a mandatory VA examination sets the evaluation on the residuals. Note (2) sends the claim to DC 7332 instead when impairment of sphincter control is the predominant disability.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7335
Rectum and Anus, Fistula-in-Ano
An abnormal tunnel between the rectum and skin near the anus, often from infection or abscess.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7332
Rectum and Anus, Impairment of Sphincter Control
Loss of control over bowel movements, possibly causing leakage or incontinence.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7333
Rectum and Anus, Stricture
Narrowing of the rectal canal, often from surgery, radiation, or chronic inflammation.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7331
Tuberculous Peritonitis (Abdominal Tuberculosis)
Tuberculous peritonitis is tuberculosis infection of the peritoneum, the membrane lining the abdominal cavity. DC 7331 prints a single evaluation: active tuberculous peritonitis is rated 100 percent. The code's title covers the condition "active or inactive", but inactive disease carries no percentage here — the entry reads "Inactive: See §§ 4.88b and 4.89", sending that part of the evaluation outside DC 7331.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7323
Ulcerative Colitis
Ulcerative colitis is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease that inflames and ulcerates the lining of the colon, causing recurring diarrhea, abdominal pain and often rectal bleeding. DC 7323 carries no criteria of its own — the schedule directs "Rate as Crohn's disease or undifferentiated form of inflammatory bowel disease (DC 7326)." That table grades the disease on the class of medication needed to manage it, how many episodes of diarrhea occur per day, and whether there are signs of toxicity such as fever, tachycardia or anemia.
Ear Conditions7
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 6201
Chronic Nonsuppurative Otitis Media (Serous Otitis Media)
Chronic nonsuppurative otitis media - often called serous otitis media or 'glue ear' - is persistent fluid behind the eardrum without active infection or drainage. DC 6201 assigns it no percentage of its own: the schedule directs that it be rated on the hearing impairment it causes.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 6210
Chronic Otitis Externa
Chronic otitis externa - the outer ear canal condition commonly called swimmer's ear - is long-standing inflammation of the ear canal rather than of the middle ear. DC 6210 is its code, and it carries a single 10 percent evaluation. It is a different condition from chronic otitis media (DC 6200), which affects the middle ear.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 6200
Chronic Otitis Media
Chronic otitis media is a long-standing middle-ear infection or inflammation that causes recurring drainage and ear pain. Under DC 6200 the ear infection itself is rated on one thing only - whether the ear is actively draining (suppurating) or has aural polyps. Any hearing loss, tinnitus, dizziness or other complication is evaluated separately rather than folded into this rating.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 6207
Loss of auricle (ear)
Partial or complete loss of the external ear (auricle).
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 6205
Meniere's Syndrome
DC 6205 rates Meniere's syndrome by how often the vertigo attacks come and whether they come with a cerebellar (staggering) gait, on top of hearing impairment. Every tier starts from hearing impairment, and tinnitus is explicitly optional — each criterion reads “with or without tinnitus”. The code also offers a choice the schedule states in its own note: evaluate under these criteria, or evaluate vertigo, hearing impairment and tinnitus separately, whichever gives the higher overall evaluation. What you may not do is both.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 6204
Peripheral Vestibular Disorders
Peripheral vestibular disorders affect the inner ear structures responsible for balance, causing dizziness, vertigo, and sometimes nausea that can range from occasional to disabling. Common causes include ear infections, head trauma, or chronic noise exposure, which makes this a frequent secondary claim alongside hearing loss or tinnitus.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 6260
Tinnitus
Tinnitus means you hear ringing, buzzing, or hissing in your ears even when there’s no sound.
Endocrine System7
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7915
Benign Neoplasms of Endocrine System
DC 7915 covers a benign — non-cancerous — neoplasm in any specified part of the endocrine system. The code states no percentages of its own; its whole entry is the instruction "Rate as residuals of endocrine dysfunction." So the evaluation comes from the endocrine dysfunction the growth leaves behind, not from the tumor's size or from the fact that it is benign. Where a neoplasm of the same system is malignant, the code is DC 7914 instead, which carries its own 100 percent evaluation.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7913
Diabetes Mellitus
A metabolic condition where blood sugar is chronically high due to poor insulin production or use.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7904
Hyperparathyroidism
Hyperparathyroidism is overproduction of parathyroid hormone, which pulls calcium out of bone and raises it in the blood, producing fatigue, nausea, constipation, kidney stones, reduced kidney function and progressive bone loss. Its classic skeletal form — osteitis fibrosa cystica, with bone pain, resorption and brown-tumour cysts — has no diagnostic code of its own and is rated as a residual of this condition under DC 7904.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7900
Hyperthyroidism
Hyperthyroidism is an overactive thyroid producing excess hormone, which speeds up metabolism and can cause rapid heartbeat, tremor, anxiety, heat intolerance and weight loss. Graves' disease is the most common cause and is rated under the same code.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7903
Hypothyroidism
DC 7903 has two evaluations and the schedule puts an end date on both of them. 30 percent is hypothyroidism without myxedema, and Note (2) says that evaluation continues for six months after initial diagnosis; thereafter the residuals of the disease or of the treatment are rated under the most appropriate code in whatever body system each one falls in. 100 percent is hypothyroidism manifesting as myxedema, and Note (1) runs it for six months beyond the date an examining physician determined crisis stabilization, then does the same thing. So this code pays for a defined window and then hands the claim to its residuals. Taking daily thyroid replacement is not a tier of it.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7914
Malignant Neoplasms of the Endocrine System (Including Thyroid Cancer)
DC 7914 covers a malignant — cancerous — neoplasm in any specified part of the endocrine system, thyroid cancer included. It carries one evaluation, 100 percent, and no lower tier of its own. That 100 percent continues through treatment and beyond it; six months after treatment is discontinued, a mandatory VA examination determines the rating that follows, and where there has been no local recurrence or metastasis the evaluation is then based on the residuals.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7906
Thyroiditis
Thyroiditis is inflammation of the thyroid gland. It is rated on the thyroid state it produces: an overactive phase is evaluated as hyperthyroidism (DC 7900) and an underactive phase as hypothyroidism (DC 7903), while a euthyroid gland is rated 0 percent under DC 7906.
Eye Conditions10
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 6029
Aphakia or Dislocation of Crystalline Lens
DC 6029 covers an eye with no lens, or one whose natural lens has slipped out of position. It is graded in an unusual way: the evaluation is based on visual impairment, and then the resulting level of visual impairment is elevated one step. On top of that the code sets a floor of 30 percent, minimum, and states it for unilateral or bilateral alike, so one affected eye reaches the same minimum as two. The elevation is the part that is easy to lose, because it happens after the visual-impairment tables have already produced an answer.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 6027
Cataract
DC 6027 states no percentages of its own. Its whole entry is a routing instruction, and it routes differently before and after surgery: preoperative cataract is evaluated under the General Rating Formula for Diseases of the Eye, and so is a postoperative cataract where a replacement lens is present (pseudophakia). Where there is no replacement lens, the evaluation is based on aphakia, DC 6029, instead. The formula itself pays on whichever is higher of two things, visual impairment or a count of treatment visits in the past 12 months, which is why an eye that sees well can still be compensable and an eye treated once a year usually is not.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 6018
Chronic Conjunctivitis (Nontrachomatous)
Chronic conjunctivitis is long-standing inflammation of the membrane lining the eyelid and the white of the eye, causing redness, irritation and discharge. DC 6018 covers the nontrachomatous form, and the evaluation depends on whether the disease is active.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 6013
Glaucoma
Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases in which pressure inside the eye damages the optic nerve, narrowing the field of vision over time. The VA schedule codes it in two forms — open-angle glaucoma (DC 6013) and angle-closure glaucoma (DC 6012) — and gives them word-for-word identical rating instructions.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 6012
Glaucoma, angle-closure
Angle-closure glaucoma occurs when the eye's drainage angle is blocked and pressure builds inside the eye, damaging the optic nerve. It is diagnostic code 6012, and the schedule gives it the same rating instruction as open-angle glaucoma (DC 6013).
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 6066
Impairment of Central Visual Acuity
This code rates central visual acuity, how sharply you can see fine detail, using a detailed table that combines your best-corrected vision in each eye, rather than the simpler correctable-versus-not distinction used by some other vision codes. If your rating decision cites this code, both eyes' specific Snellen chart results (like 20/40 or 20/70) are what determines your tier.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 6025
Lacrimal duct, epiphora
Excessive tearing due to blocked tear ducts.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 6006
Retinopathy and Maculopathy (Including Retinitis)
DC 6006 is the schedule's catch-all for retinopathy or maculopathy not otherwise specified - damage to the retina or the macula from any cause the schedule does not code separately. It covers retinitis, drug-induced or toxic retinopathy, and other retinal disease, and the evaluation comes from the General Rating Formula for Diseases of the Eye rather than from criteria of its own.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 6000
Uveitis (Choroiditis/Iritis)
Uveitis is inflammation inside the eye that can cause redness, pain, and vision problems.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 6080
Visual Field Defects (Loss of Visual Field)
This code rates loss of peripheral (side) vision specifically, using a Goldmann visual field test that measures how many degrees of your visual field remain, rather than the standard eye chart used for visual acuity. If your rating decision cites this code, requesting the correct field test, not just a routine eye exam, is essential to getting an accurate rating.
Genitourinary System15
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7530
Chronic renal disease
Chronic renal disease is long-term, progressive damage to the kidneys' ability to filter waste from the blood. DC 7530 carries no criteria of its own — the schedule directs "Rate as renal dysfunction" — so the evaluation comes from the § 4.115a table, which is graded by glomerular filtration rate. Each band has to hold for at least 3 consecutive months during the past 12 months, and requiring regular routine dialysis or being an eligible kidney transplant recipient reaches 100 percent on its own.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7522
Erectile Dysfunction, With or Without Penile Deformity
This code covers erectile dysfunction, with or without penile deformity — neither element depends on the other being present. Under the code's note, a disease or traumatic injury of the penis that results in scarring or deformity is also rated here. The schedule lists a single evaluation for the code and it is 0 percent, so the percentage does not move with how severe the dysfunction is or how pronounced any deformity is. What the evidence has to establish is the diagnosis and how it connects to service, not a severity level.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7509
Hydronephrosis
Swelling of the kidney due to urine backup from obstruction.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7537
Interstitial Nephritis
Kidney inflammation that affects filtering ability, often caused by medications or infections.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7500
Kidney removal (nephrectomy)
This code covers surgical removal of one kidney. The schedule assigns a 30 percent minimum evaluation for the removal itself. If the remaining kidney has nephritis, infection, or other pathology, this same code is instead rated as renal dysfunction under § 4.115a, which is graded by glomerular filtration rate.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7528
Malignant Neoplasms of the Genitourinary System (Including Prostate Cancer)
This code covers malignant neoplasms of the genitourinary system — cancer of the urinary and reproductive organs rated in § 4.115b, prostate cancer among them. An active malignancy under this code is evaluated at 100 percent. Under the code's note, that 100 percent continues after surgical, X-ray, antineoplastic chemotherapy, or other therapeutic treatment ends, with a mandatory VA examination at the expiration of six months. If there has been no local recurrence or metastasis at that point, the evaluation is based on the residuals that remain, rated as voiding dysfunction or renal dysfunction, whichever is predominant.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7502
Nephritis, chronic
Chronic nephritis is long-term inflammation of the kidneys' filtering structures, which can lead to protein leaking into the urine (proteinuria) and elevated blood pressure as kidney function gradually declines. Because early kidney damage often has no obvious symptoms, lab-confirmed findings are what actually establish and track this condition.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7508
Nephrolithiasis (kidney stones)
Formation of stones in the kidney causing pain and urinary problems.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7520
Penis, Removal of Half or More
This code covers surgical removal of half or more of the penis. The schedule provides a single evaluation for it — 30 percent — with no higher or lower step inside the code. What the evaluation rests on is whether the record establishes that half or more was removed.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7527
Prostate Gland Injuries
DC 7527 covers prostate gland injuries and infections, hypertrophy, post-operative residuals, and bladder outlet obstruction. It carries no criteria of its own — the schedule directs that it be rated as voiding dysfunction or urinary tract infection, whichever is predominant. Which route applies, and which part of the voiding dysfunction table applies, decides the percentage: urine leakage and how often absorbent materials must be changed, urinary frequency by day and by night, or obstructed voiding and catheterization.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7525
Prostatitis, Urethritis, Epididymitis, and Orchitis (Chronic)
This code covers the chronic forms of prostatitis, urethritis, epididymitis, and orchitis — long-running inflammation or infection of the prostate, urethra, epididymis, or testicle, on one side or both. The schedule gives the code no criteria of its own; it directs that the condition be rated as a urinary tract infection. That means the percentage comes from how the recurring infection has had to be managed — hospitalizations in a year, how long suppressive drug therapy has run, and whether drainage or continuous intensive management is needed — or, where kidney function is poor, from kidney function, rather than from how much pain or discomfort the condition causes.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7523
Testis, Atrophy of
Shrinking or damage to one or both testicles, often affecting fertility or hormone levels.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7524
Testis, removal
Loss or removal of one or both testicles.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7518
Urethra, stricture of
A urethral stricture is a narrowing of the urethra that obstructs the flow of urine. DC 7518 carries no criteria of its own; the schedule directs "Rate as voiding dysfunction", and § 4.115a in turn directs that the particular condition be rated as urine leakage, frequency, or obstructed voiding. The ladder published for this code covers all three: urine leakage (up to 60 percent), urinary frequency (up to 40 percent), and obstructed voiding (up to 30 percent).
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7543
Varicocele/Hydrocele
This code covers varicocele and hydrocele together in one schedule entry — a varicocele is a swelling of the veins within the scrotum, and a hydrocele is a collection of fluid in the sac around a testicle. The schedule gives the code a single evaluation, and it is 0 percent. Nothing in the criteria raises that figure, so the evaluation does not turn on pain, size, which side is involved, or whether the condition has been surgically repaired. Where a separate condition has developed and the schedule rates it under its own diagnostic code, that code is where a compensable evaluation would come from.
Hearing Impairment1
Hemic and Lymphatic Systems6
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7719
Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML)
DC 7719 is the only leukemia code in the schedule with a real ladder, and it grades treatment rather than disease. 100 percent requires a peripheral blood or bone marrow stem cell transplant, or continuous myelosuppressive or immunosuppressive therapy. 60 percent is intermittent myelosuppressive therapy, or a tyrosine kinase inhibitor or interferon while not in apparent remission. 30 percent is apparent remission while still on continuous tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy — which is where most veterans on modern CML treatment sit, and it is a compensable evaluation the schedule states outright rather than something that has to be argued.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7709
Hodgkin's Lymphoma
DC 7709 states one evaluation, 100 percent, for Hodgkin's lymphoma with active disease or during a treatment phase. Everything else about this code is in its single note, and the note is what a veteran needs: the 100 percent continues beyond the cessation of any surgical therapy, radiation therapy, antineoplastic chemotherapy or other therapeutic procedure, and six months after that treatment is discontinued a mandatory VA examination determines the rating. If there has been no local recurrence or metastasis, the evaluation moves to the residuals, rated under whatever codes they fall under — and for this disease the residuals of treatment are often the long-run disability.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7720
Iron Deficiency Anemia
DC 7720 grades iron deficiency anemia on treatment and nothing else: 30 percent for intravenous iron infusions 4 or more times in a 12-month period, 10 percent for 1 to 3 infusions in that period or for continuous treatment with oral supplementation, and 0 percent where the anemia is asymptomatic or treated only by dietary modification. There is no tier here for a hemoglobin figure, for fatigue or for shortness of breath. And the code carries a carve-out that decides a large share of the claims that reach it: do not evaluate iron deficiency anemia due to blood loss under this diagnostic code — evaluate it under the criteria for the condition causing the blood loss.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7703
Leukemia (Except for Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia)
DC 7703 is the leukemia code for every leukemia except chronic myelogenous leukemia, which has its own code at DC 7719. It pays 100 percent when there is active disease or during a treatment phase, and it has one 0 percent tier for asymptomatic chronic lymphocytic leukemia or monoclonal B-cell lymphocytosis at Rai Stage 0. What decides most claims under it is not the ladder but the note: the 100 percent continues beyond the cessation of treatment, and six months after that treatment is discontinued a mandatory VA examination determines the rating from then on. If there has been no recurrence, the evaluation moves to the residuals, rated under whatever codes they fall under.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7712
Multiple Myeloma
DC 7712 has two evaluations and one word divides them: symptomatic. Symptomatic multiple myeloma is 100 percent; asymptomatic or smoldering myeloma, and monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS), are 0 percent. Note (1) says what may be used to establish which of the two applies — current validated biomarkers as defined by the American Society of Hematology and the International Myeloma Working Group. And Note (2) is the provision that separates this code from every other cancer code in Part 4: the 100 percent continues for FIVE YEARS after the diagnosis of symptomatic multiple myeloma, not six months after treatment ends, at which point a mandatory VA examination determines the evaluation — with 38 CFR 3.105(e) and 38 CFR 3.344(a) and (b) applying to any reduction.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7715
Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma
DC 7715 states one evaluation, 100 percent, and reaches it three ways: active disease, a treatment phase, or the indolent and non-contiguous phase of low grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. That third route is the one most likely to be missed, because it assigns a total evaluation to a disease that is being watched rather than treated. The note sets the rest: the 100 percent continues beyond cessation of treatment, and TWO YEARS after that treatment is discontinued — not six months, as the other lymphoma and leukemia codes provide — a mandatory VA examination determines the evaluation. If there has been no recurrence, the rating moves to the residuals.
Infectious Diseases and Immune Disorders6
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 6314
Beriberi
DC 6314 is written in two halves and the schedule marks the division itself: the three tiers above are all prefaced "as active disease", and the row that closes the code says "thereafter rate residuals under the appropriate body system." So the ladder covers the period the thiamine deficiency is active, and the heart and nerve damage it leaves is rated under the cardiovascular and neurological schedules afterwards. Beriberi is one of the diseases specific to former prisoners of war at 38 CFR 3.309(c).
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 6354
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS)
CFS causes persistent fatigue not improved by rest and worsened by physical or mental activity.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 6351
HIV-Related Illness
DC 6351 is written so that a diagnosis alone is already an evaluation: 0 percent for asymptomatic HIV infection following the initial diagnosis, with or without lymphadenopathy or a decreased T4 cell count. Above that the code moves on three things the medical record already holds — constitutional symptoms, the T4 cell count, and whether approved medication is being used — and two of its tiers are stated as minimums rather than as descriptions, so a T4 count under 200 is at least 30 percent and an AIDS-related opportunistic infection or neoplasm is at least 60 percent whatever else the examination says.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 6350
Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic (Disseminated)
DC 6350 grades systemic lupus on exacerbations — how often they come and how long they last — and not on which organs the disease has reached. That is why its note matters more than its ladder: the schedule says to evaluate systemic lupus either by combining the evaluations for its residuals under the appropriate body systems, or by evaluating DC 6350, whichever method results in a higher evaluation. A veteran with lupus nephritis, inflammatory arthritis and a documented skin condition may be worth far more on the combined residuals than on this code’s 10 percent, and the schedule says outright that the higher of the two is the one to assign.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 6319
Lyme Disease
DC 6319 sends Lyme disease to the General Rating Formula for Infectious Diseases, which pays 100 percent for active disease and 0 percent for the infection once it has resolved. Almost every Lyme claim is therefore decided somewhere other than this code, and the code says where: its note directs any residual disability of the infection to be rated under the appropriate body system, and names arthritis, Bell’s palsy, radiculopathy, ocular and cognitive dysfunction as examples. Those are the evaluations a veteran with post-treatment Lyme should be filing for.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 6304
Malaria
DC 6304 no longer has a ladder of its own. The schedule sends malaria to the General Rating Formula for Infectious Diseases, which pays 100 percent for active disease and 0 percent for the infection once it has resolved. That is not the end of the claim: the same formula says to rate any residual disability of the infection within the appropriate body system, and DC 6304’s own note names liver or splenic damage and central nervous system conditions as examples. So a veteran whose malaria is behind them is rated on what it left, under those codes, rather than on the malaria.
Mental Disorders4
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 9400
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
GAD is a mental health condition marked by persistent, excessive worry about daily activities.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 9434
Major Depressive Disorder
Major depressive disorder is rated under DC 9434 by how far it impairs your work and social functioning, not by the diagnosis and not by counting symptoms. The code states no criteria of its own: 38 CFR 4.130 lists it in the schedule of mental disorders and its Note 2 directs that every code from 9201 to 9440 be evaluated under one General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders, which runs 100, 70, 50, 30, 10 and 0 percent. Each tier of that formula reads “due to such symptoms as”, so the symptoms it lists are examples of a level of impairment rather than a checklist that earns a percentage on its own.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 9412
Panic Disorder with Agoraphobia
Panic disorder is marked by sudden episodes of intense fear, often leading to avoidance of public places.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 9411
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
PTSD is a mental health issue caused by a traumatic event, leading to flashbacks, anxiety, or nightmares.
Muscle Injuries14
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5301
Muscle Group I - Shoulder Girdle Muscles (Trapezius, Levator Scapulae)
Injury to the muscles that rotate the shoulder blade upward and raise the arm above shoulder level — the trapezius, levator scapulae and serratus magnus.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5304
Muscle Group IV - Shoulder Stabilizer Muscles (Supraspinatus, Subscapularis)
Injury to the muscles that hold the head of the upper arm bone in the shoulder socket and rotate the arm — the supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor and subscapularis.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5306
Muscle Group VI (Elbow Extensors)
Injury to the muscles that straighten the elbow — the triceps and the anconeus.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5307
Muscle Group VII - Forearm Flexors (Wrist and Finger Flexion)
Injury to the flexor muscles on the palm side of the forearm — the muscles that bend the wrist and the fingers.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5310
Muscle Group X - Intrinsic Muscles of the Foot
Injury to the small muscles inside the foot itself — the ones that move the forefoot and toes and give the push-off in walking.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5311
Muscle Group XI - Calf and Posterior Leg Muscles (Plantar Flexion)
Injury to the calf and back-of-the-leg muscles that point the foot down, hold up the arch, curl the toes and help bend the knee.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5312
Muscle Group XII - Anterior Leg Muscles (Dorsiflexion)
Injury to the muscles on the front of the shin that lift the foot and toes — the group whose loss causes foot drop.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5315
Muscle Group XV - Hip Adductors (Inner Thigh Muscles)
Injury to the inner-thigh groin muscles that pull the leg toward the midline — the adductors and the gracilis.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5316
Muscle Group XVI - Hip Flexors (Psoas, Iliacus, Pectineus)
Injury to the deep muscles that lift the thigh toward the chest — the psoas, iliacus and pectineus.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5317
Muscle Group XVII - Gluteal Muscles (Hip Extensors)
Injury to pelvic girdle group 2 — the gluteus maximus, medius and minimus, the buttock muscles that extend the hip, abduct the thigh and steady the pelvis when you stand and walk.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5320
Muscle Group XX - Spinal muscles
Injury to the sacrospinalis — the long erector-spinae muscle column running either side of the spine that holds the back upright.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5321
Muscle Group XXI - Respiratory muscles
Injury to the thoracic muscle group — the chest-wall muscles used in breathing.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5322
Muscle Group XXII - Muscles of front of neck
Injury to the muscles at the front of the neck — the sternocleidomastoid, the hyoid group and their neighbours — which turn the head forward and to the side and help with breathing and swallowing.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5326
Muscle Hernia
A muscle hernia is a bulge of muscle tissue pushing through a tear or weak spot in the fascia that sheathes the muscle, usually visible or palpable at the site and most often following a specific strain, trauma or surgery.
Musculoskeletal System86
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5126
Amputation of All Five Digits of One Hand
This code covers amputation of all five digits of one hand. It pays 70 percent for the dominant (major) hand and 60 percent for the non-dominant (minor) hand - the two figures are the two hands, not two amputation levels.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5170
Amputation of All Toes
Amputation of all the toes on one foot without loss of the metatarsal bones. The same code also covers a transmetatarsal amputation that takes up to half of the metatarsals; losing more than half of the metatarsals is a different, higher-rated code.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5122
Amputation of Arm, Below Insertion of Deltoid
This code covers amputation of the arm below the insertion of the deltoid. It pays 80 percent for the dominant (major) upper extremity and 70 percent for the non-dominant (minor) one - the two figures are the two sides, not two amputation heights. An amputation above the deltoid insertion is a different, higher-paying code (DC 5121).
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5163
Amputation of Leg, with Defective Stump
This code covers a below-knee amputation whose residual limb (stump) is defective enough that re-amputation through the thigh is recommended. What the code turns on is that recommendation, not the amputation level by itself, so documentation of how the stump fails is the core evidence.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5162
Amputation of Thigh at Middle or Lower Third
This is an amputation of the thigh through its middle or lower third — below the upper third of the femur and above the knee. The schedule states a single evaluation covering that whole range, so how well a prosthesis fits does not move the percentage.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5161
Amputation of Thigh at Upper Third
This is an amputation of the thigh in its upper third — the top one-third of the distance from the perineum to the knee joint, measured from the perineum. The schedule states a single evaluation for that level, so whether a prosthesis can be fitted does not raise or lower the percentage.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5056
Ankle Replacement (Prosthesis)
Your ankle joint has been replaced with a prosthesis, and VA evaluates the result under diagnostic code 5056. A 100 percent evaluation runs for 1 year following implantation; after that the highest evaluation this code assigns is 40 percent.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5270
Ankle, Ankylosis of
DC 5270 rates an ankle that no longer moves, and the only thing it grades is the position the joint is fixed in, measured in degrees. Plantar flexion — the foot pointed down — is worth 20 percent under 30 degrees, 30 percent between 30 and 40 degrees, and 40 percent above 40 degrees. Dorsiflexion — the foot pulled up — is worth 30 percent between 0 and 10 degrees and 40 percent above 10 degrees. Any abduction, adduction, inversion or eversion deformity carries 40 percent on its own. There is no tier here for pain, for swelling or for how far the ankle can move, because ankylosis means it does not; an ankle that still has motion is rated under DC 5271 instead.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5271
Ankle, Limitation of Motion
Reduced ability to flex or extend the ankle, usually due to injury or arthritis.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5240
Ankylosing Spondylitis
Ankylosing spondylitis is a chronic inflammatory disease that attacks the spine and the sacroiliac joints, causing pain and stiffness that is typically worst in the morning and eases with movement, and over years can fuse segments of the spine. It is a different condition from spondylolisthesis, which is a vertebra slipping forward, and from spondylosis, which is the clinical name for degenerative spine arthritis and appears nowhere in 38 CFR Part 4. DC 5240 is ankylosing spondylitis's own diagnostic code.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5205
Ankylosis of the Elbow
Your elbow is fused, so the forearm is fixed at one angle. VA rates the fusion by the angle it is fixed at, by whether forearm rotation is also completely lost, and by whether it is your dominant or non-dominant arm.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5225
Ankylosis of the Index Finger
The index finger is fixed in one position and no longer bends. DC 5225 is a single 10 percent evaluation: the schedule does not separate favorable from unfavorable ankylosis for this digit, and it does not separate the dominant hand from the non-dominant one.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5226
Ankylosis of the Long (Middle) Finger
The long (middle) finger is fixed in one position and no longer bends. DC 5226 is a single 10 percent evaluation: favorable and unfavorable ankylosis are rated the same, and so are the dominant and non-dominant hands.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5227
Ankylosis of the Ring or Little Finger
The ring or little finger is fixed in one position. DC 5227 is a single 0 percent row: the ankylosis is recognised as a disability but the code awards no compensation for it on its own, whichever hand it is on and whether the fixed position is favorable or unfavorable.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5200
Ankylosis of the Scapulohumeral Articulation (Shoulder Joint)
Shoulder ankylosis means your joint is stiff or frozen, severely limiting arm motion.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5214
Ankylosis of the Wrist
Ankylosis of the wrist is a wrist fixed in one position that no longer moves. DC 5214 rates it by the position the wrist is fused in and by which hand it is - the schedule prints a major (dominant) and a minor (non-dominant) column, and the dominant wrist rates one step higher at every position. A wrist fixed in an extremely unfavorable position is not rated under this code at all: its note sends that case to DC 5125, loss of use of the hand.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5224
Ankylosis of Thumb
The thumb is fixed in one position and no longer moves. DC 5224 pays 20 percent when the fixed position is unfavorable and 10 percent when it is favorable, and unlike most upper-extremity codes it pays the same whether the thumb is on the dominant or the non-dominant hand.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5121
Arm, Amputation Above Insertion of Deltoid
This code covers amputation of the arm above the point where the deltoid inserts. The amputation level fixes which code applies; the code's two percentages are not two heights but the two sides - 90 percent for the dominant (major) upper extremity and 80 percent for the non-dominant (minor) one. An amputation below the deltoid insertion is rated under DC 5122 at 80/70 instead.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5201
Arm, Limitation of Motion
Difficulty or inability to raise the arm due to injury or joint damage.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5004
Arthritis, Gonococcal
Gonococcal arthritis — the schedule calls it "Arthritis, gonorrheal" — is joint inflammation caused by disseminated Neisseria gonorrhoeae infection, most often striking a single large joint with severe pain, swelling and fever. VA rates it under DC 5004, which has no percentage criteria of its own: the active infection is rated under DC 5002 and anything left behind afterwards is rated under DC 5003.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5019
Bursitis
Bursitis is inflammation of a bursa — one of the fluid-filled sacs that cushion tendons and muscles where they pass over bone — most often at the shoulder, hip, elbow or knee, causing pain and painful, restricted motion. DC 5019 has no percentages of its own: it is rated as degenerative arthritis, on limitation of motion of the affected joint.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5160
Complete Amputation of the Lower Extremity (Hip Disarticulation or Trans-Pelvic)
Complete amputation of the leg at the hip. The schedule sets two levels: disarticulation, which removes the femur and the intrinsic pelvic musculature only, and trans-pelvic amputation, which also takes some portion of the pelvic bones.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5120
Complete Amputation of the Upper Extremity
This code covers complete amputation of the upper extremity at its two highest levels: forequarter amputation, which takes the humerus together with part of the shoulder girdle, and disarticulation, which removes the humerus only. Both rows pay the same on either side - this code has no dominant versus non-dominant difference - so the evaluation turns entirely on which of the two levels the operative record documents.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5003
Degenerative Arthritis
Degenerative arthritis (osteoarthritis) is the gradual breakdown of the cartilage that cushions a joint, producing pain, stiffness, swelling and reduced motion. DC 5003 is not primarily a ladder of its own: the schedule rates degenerative arthritis established by X-ray "on the basis of limitation of motion under the appropriate diagnostic codes for the specific joint or joints involved", so most evaluations come from the affected joint's own code and DC 5003 supplies a floor.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5242
Degenerative Arthritis of the Spine
Wear and tear in the spine causing stiffness, pain, or nerve issues.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5052
Elbow Replacement (Prosthesis)
Your elbow joint has been replaced with a prosthesis, and VA evaluates the result under diagnostic code 5052. This code splits its evaluations by extremity: identical residuals are worth more on your dominant (major) arm than on your non-dominant (minor) arm.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5209
Elbow, Other Impairment (Flail Joint)
This code covers elbow damage that is neither fusion nor simply lost motion: a flail elbow joint, or an old joint fracture that left the elbow markedly angled inward or outward, or a fracture of the head of the radius that never united.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5223
Favorable Ankylosis of Two Digits of One Hand
DC 5223 covers two digits of the same hand ankylosed in a favorable position, most often the thumb and one finger. It is the favorable counterpart of DC 5219 and pays 10 percent less on every row but one: which two digits are involved, and whether it is the dominant hand, set the evaluation.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5255
Femur, Impairment of
A thigh bone that never healed back together (nonunion), or that healed into a false joint. If the femur healed but healed crooked (malunion), the schedule rates it under the knee or hip codes instead of here.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5025
Fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia is a chronic pain condition marked by widespread musculoskeletal pain and tender points, usually with fatigue, unrefreshing sleep, stiffness and cognitive fog. VA rates it under DC 5025, and the percentage turns on how much of the time the pain is present and whether medication or therapy controls it — not on how many joints are involved.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5276
Flatfoot, Acquired
Fallen arches causing foot pain, imbalance, and difficulty walking.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5284
Foot Injuries, Other
DC 5284 is the catch-all for foot injuries the schedule does not list separately. It has three evaluations — moderate 10 percent, moderately severe 20 percent, severe 30 percent — and no defining criteria, so the whole case rests on how the residuals and their functional effect are characterised. A note to the code provides 40 percent where there is actual loss of use of the foot.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5207
Forearm, Extension Limitation (Elbow)
Difficulty straightening the elbow — the joint stops short of full extension because of injury, fusion or arthritis.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5206
Forearm, Flexion Limitation (Elbow)
Difficulty bending the elbow due to injury or arthritis.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5208
Forearm, Flexion Limited to 100° and Extension to 45°
DC 5208 is the elbow code for one specific combination, and it is the only code in the elbow table that requires two findings at once: flexion limited to 100° AND extension limited to 45°. It pays a single 20 percent, and unlike most of the elbow codes it pays the same on either arm. Its usefulness is not that 20 percent is high — DC 5206 and DC 5207 both reach further on their own — but that the combination is what the examination is most likely to produce and what neither of the single-motion codes describes.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5166
Forefoot Amputation, Proximal to the Metatarsal Bones
Amputation of the front of the foot at a level above (proximal to) the metatarsal bones, taking more than one-half of the metatarsal length. A transmetatarsal amputation that takes up to half of the metatarsals is a separate, lower-rated code.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5017
Gout
Gout is a crystalline arthritis in which uric acid crystals deposit in joints, causing sudden, intensely painful attacks — classically in the big toe — and, over time, joint damage. VA rates it under DC 5017 on limitation of motion of the joints it affects.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5125
Hand, Loss of Use
This code covers loss of use of one hand - the point at which the hand keeps no effective function, whether the cause is a crush injury, nerve paralysis or anything else. It rates the dominant (major) hand at 70 percent and the non-dominant (minor) hand at 60. It is loss of function, not amputation: the amputation levels have their own codes.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5254
Hip Flail Joint
A flail hip joint means the hip is unstable and can’t support the body properly.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5054
Hip Replacement (Prosthetic)
Your hip joint has been replaced with a prosthesis, or resurfaced, and VA evaluates the result under diagnostic code 5054. The code covers both procedures, but its 30 percent minimum is for a total replacement only.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5250
Hip, Ankylosis of
Stiffness or immobility of the hip joint due to abnormal fusion of the bones.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5202
Humerus, Other Impairment
Arm bone injuries such as dislocation or malunion, affecting function and causing pain.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5203
Impairment of the Clavicle or Scapula
Damage to the collarbone or shoulder blade that affects shoulder function and stability.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5253
Impairment of the Thigh (Adduction/Rotation)
This code rates impairment of the thigh through three specific hip motions — abduction (moving the leg out to the side), adduction (bringing it across the body) and rotation (turning the foot outward). Abduction is the motion that carries the higher evaluation, so it is the one most often left unmeasured.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5243
Intervertebral Disc Syndrome (IVDS)
Intervertebral disc syndrome involves damage to the cushioning discs between spinal vertebrae, which can bulge or herniate and press on nearby nerves, causing back pain, stiffness, and sometimes pain radiating into the arms or legs. Unlike most spine ratings based on range of motion, this code can alternatively be rated by counting incapacitating episodes requiring physician-prescribed bed rest.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5055
Knee Replacement (Prosthesis)
This code covers a total knee replacement and knee resurfacing. It carries a 100 percent evaluation for 4 months following implantation of the prosthesis or resurfacing; after that the evaluation turns on how the knee actually functions.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5256
Knee, Ankylosis
Knee is stiff or frozen in one position due to injury, arthritis, or surgery.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5258
Knee, dislocated semilunar cartilage
This code covers a torn or dislocated meniscus (semilunar cartilage) in the knee that causes recurring episodes of the joint locking, catching, or swelling. Unlike general knee arthritis, the rating here depends specifically on how often these locking and swelling episodes occur, not on imaging alone.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5257
Knee, Other Impairment of
This diagnostic code covers knee instability — the knee buckling, giving out, or shifting out of place — separately from pain or arthritis. Since the 2021 rewrite it rates two named things: recurrent subluxation or instability after a ligament sprain or tear, and instability of the kneecap (the patellofemoral complex) after surgical repair. The tier you land on depends less on how bad the instability feels than on what a medical provider has prescribed for it — a brace, a walking aid, both, or neither.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5164
Leg Amputation Not Improvable by Prosthesis Controlled by Natural Knee Action
This code covers a below-knee amputation that a prosthesis controlled by the veteran's own knee action cannot improve — most often because the residual stump is too short to drive one. It carries a single evaluation. An amputation through the thigh itself is a different level and is rated under the thigh codes, not here.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5261
Limitation of Extension of the Leg (Knee)
Knee extension limits your ability to fully straighten your leg. This diagnostic code covers a specific, measurable limitation: how far you're able to straighten the knee. Unlike general knee pain, this rating is driven almost entirely by a precise angle measurement, so how and when that measurement is taken can significantly affect the outcome.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5260
Limitation of Flexion of the Leg (Knee)
Loss of knee flexion makes it difficult to squat, sit, or use stairs.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5252
Limitation of Flexion of the Thigh (Hip)
Hip flexion limitation makes it difficult to walk, sit, squat, or bend at the waist.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5229
Limitation of Motion of the Index or Long Finger
VA measures how far the fingertip stays from your palm when you curl the finger as far as it goes, and how far short of straight it stops. This code covers the index finger and the long (middle) finger.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5110
Loss of use of both feet
Both feet have lost all effective function. In 38 CFR 4.71a this is DC 5110, "Loss of use of both feet" — one row in the combinations-of-disabilities table, paying a single evaluation of 100 percent. It covers functional loss with the feet still present; anatomical loss of both feet is a separate entry, DC 5107, and one foot alone is DC 5167 at 40 percent.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5109
Loss of Use of Both Hands
Both hands have lost all effective function. In 38 CFR 4.71a this is DC 5109, "Loss of use of both hands" — one row in the combinations-of-disabilities table, paying a single evaluation of 100 percent. It is functional loss with the hands still present; anatomical loss of both hands is a separate entry, DC 5106.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5167
Loss of Use of One Foot
This code applies when a foot is still physically present but no longer functions well enough for effective walking or balance, essentially treating the functional loss the same as if the foot had been amputated. It's a strict, single-tier standard - the foot has to be functionally unusable, not just painful or weak.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5111
Loss of Use of One Hand and One Foot
This is 38 CFR 4.71a DC 5111, "Loss of use of one hand and one foot" — one row in the combinations-of-disabilities table, paying a single evaluation of 100 percent when one hand and one foot have both lost all effective function. The limbs are still present; the test is functional. Anatomical loss of one hand together with loss of use of one foot is a different entry (DC 5104), as is anatomical loss of one hand and one foot (DC 5108).
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5237
Lumbosacral or Cervical Strain
A strain or sprain of the muscles and ligaments supporting the neck or lower back, causing pain, stiffness, and reduced range of motion — often from lifting, impact, or repetitive strain during service.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5021
Myositis
Myositis is inflammation of muscle, producing pain, swelling and weakness in the affected group. DC 5021 has no percentages of its own: it is rated as degenerative arthritis, on limitation of motion of the part the inflamed muscle moves.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5273
Os Calcis or Astragalus (Calcaneus or Talus), Malunion of
The heel bone (os calcis, now called the calcaneus) or the ankle bone (astragalus, now called the talus) healed out of position after a fracture, and the rating turns on whether the resulting deformity is moderate or marked.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5016
Osteitis Deformans (Paget's Disease)
Osteitis deformans — Paget's disease of bone — is a disorder of bone remodelling in which bone is broken down and rebuilt too fast, leaving it enlarged, structurally weak and prone to deformity, pain and fracture. It most often affects the pelvis, spine, skull, femur and tibia. The schedule lists it as DC 5016, which has no percentages of its own and is rated on limitation of motion of the affected parts.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5014
Osteomalacia
Osteomalacia is softening of the bones from defective mineralization, usually due to vitamin D deficiency, causing bone pain, proximal muscle weakness and, when advanced, fractures. The schedule titles DC 5014 "Osteomalacia, residuals of" and rates those residuals on limitation of motion of the affected parts.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5000
Osteomyelitis
Osteomyelitis is infection of bone — usually reaching it through an open fracture, a penetrating wound, surgery or the bloodstream — which can smoulder for years, produce dead bone (sequestrum) and drain through a sinus tract to the skin. DC 5000 rates it on how active and how widespread the infection is, and on how recently there has been objective evidence of activity.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5013
Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis is loss of bone mineral density that leaves bone fragile enough to fracture from minor stress. The schedule titles DC 5013 "Osteoporosis, residuals of" — it rates what the disease has left behind, not the bone-density number, and it does that on limitation of motion of the affected parts.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5009
Other Specified Forms of Arthritis
DC 5009 is the schedule's catch-all for inflammatory joint disease that has no code of its own — the schedule titles it "Other specified forms of arthropathy (excluding gout)" and its Note (1) lists "Charcot neuropathic, hypertrophic, crystalline, and other autoimmune arthropathies" as examples. Gout is expressly excluded: since February 7, 2021 gout is rated under DC 5017 on limitation of motion, not here.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5269
Plantar Fasciitis
Plantar fasciitis is inflammation and degeneration of the plantar fascia, the thick band running from the heel to the toes, producing the classic sharp heel pain on the first steps of the morning. Since February 7, 2021 it has had its own diagnostic code — DC 5269 — instead of being rated by analogy to tenosynovitis, and the percentage turns on whether one foot or both are affected and on whether treatment has failed.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5010
Post-Traumatic Arthritis
Post-traumatic arthritis is joint degeneration that follows a specific injury — a fracture, dislocation or major ligament tear — rather than ordinary wear. Since February 7, 2021 DC 5010 has had no ladder of its own: the schedule reads "Rate as limitation of motion, dislocation, or other specified instability under the affected joint", so the percentage comes entirely from the injured joint's own diagnostic code and differs joint by joint.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5259
Removal of semilunar cartilage
Residual symptoms after removal of the semilunar cartilage — the meniscus — of the knee, whether the surgery was a partial or total meniscectomy. The code pays a single 10 percent evaluation, and it turns on the knee still being symptomatic after the operation, not on the operation itself.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5002
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks the lining of the joints, causing inflammation, swelling and progressive joint damage, along with systemic effects such as fatigue, weight loss and anemia. VA rates it under DC 5002, which the schedule titles "Multi-joint arthritis (except post-traumatic and gout), 2 or more joints, as an active process" and whose Note (1) names rheumatoid arthritis as an example of what the code covers.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5236
Sacroiliac Injury and Weakness
The sacroiliac joints connect the base of the spine to the pelvis, and injury, inflammation or weakness there causes chronic lower back, buttock and hip pain, especially with lifting, twisting or prolonged standing. Sacroiliitis, SI joint dysfunction and sacroiliac strain all describe problems with these joints, and 38 CFR Part 4 names none of them: DC 5236, sacroiliac injury and weakness, is the code that covers the joint. In service it is commonly linked to lifting injuries, falls, or repetitive strain from carrying gear.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5051
Shoulder Replacement (Prosthesis)
Your shoulder joint has been replaced with a prosthesis, and VA evaluates the result under diagnostic code 5051. This code splits its evaluations by extremity: identical residuals are worth more on your dominant (major) arm than on your non-dominant (minor) arm.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5241
Spinal Fusion
Spinal fusion is surgery that joins two or more vertebrae so they no longer move against each other. VA does not rate the operation: DC 5241 rates what the spine can still do afterwards. A fused segment is ankylosis by definition, and whether it is favorable or unfavorable is what moves the evaluation.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5238
Spinal Stenosis
Spinal stenosis is narrowing of the spinal canal that puts pressure on the spinal cord and the nerve roots leaving it. Where the narrowing is decides what it feels like and which spinal segment gets measured: cervical stenosis, in the neck, tends to produce arm and hand symptoms and problems with balance and fine movement, while lumbar stenosis, in the lower back, typically produces leg pain and heaviness that come on with walking or standing and ease when you sit or lean forward. DC 5238 is the code for both, and 38 CFR 4.71a evaluates the cervical and thoracolumbar segments separately unless both are unfavorably ankylosed.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5239
Spondylolisthesis or Segmental Instability
Spondylolisthesis is when one vertebra slips forward over another, often causing back pain and nerve compression.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5213
Supination and Pronation, Impairment (Forearm Rotation)
This code covers loss of the forearm's rotation - turning the palm up (supination) and down (pronation). VA rates it by whether the rotation is lost to bone fusion and, if so, the position the hand is fixed in, or whether pronation or supination is only partly limited, and by which arm is dominant.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5283
Tarsal or Metatarsal Bones, Malunion or Nonunion of
One of the small bones of the midfoot or forefoot healed out of position after a fracture, or never healed at all, and the resulting foot disability is graded as moderate, moderately severe, or severe.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5024
Tenosynovitis
Tenosynovitis is inflammation of the sheath that surrounds a tendon, causing pain, swelling and catching on movement. Since February 7, 2021 DC 5024 has covered a wider family — the schedule titles it "Tenosynovitis, tendinitis, tendinosis or tendinopathy", so rotator cuff tendinitis, De Quervain's tenosynovitis, lateral epicondylitis, Achilles tendinopathy and trigger finger are all rated here. The code has no percentages of its own: it is rated as degenerative arthritis, on limitation of motion of the affected part.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5251
Thigh, Limitation of Extension
This diagnostic code covers limited hip and thigh extension - difficulty moving the leg backward from the hip - which is a distinct, specific measurement separate from general hip or thigh pain. Because there's only a single 10% rating tier for this code, the entire claim depends on documenting that the extension loss meets the specific threshold.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5228
Thumb, Limitation of Motion
DC 5228 rates a thumb that still moves but cannot reach the fingers. The whole evaluation is one measurement: the gap left between the thumb pad and the fingers when the veteran tries to touch them. More than two inches is 20 percent, one to two inches is 10 percent, and less than an inch is 0.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5262
Tibia and Fibula, Impairment of (Including Shin Splints)
DC 5262 covers impairment of the tibia and fibula — the two bones of the lower leg. Since the 2021 rewrite it rates two things directly: shin splints (medial tibial stress syndrome), graded almost entirely on how long they have been treated and what treatment has failed; and nonunion of the tibia and fibula with loose motion requiring a brace. If the bones healed but healed crooked, the schedule sends that malunion to the knee or ankle codes to be rated there.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5001
Tuberculosis of the Bones and Joints
Skeletal tuberculosis is Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection of bone or joint — most often the spine (Pott's disease), hip or knee — causing destructive lesions, pain, deformity and abscess. DC 5001 ("Bones and joints, tuberculosis of, active or inactive") is a single 100 percent evaluation while the disease is active; once it is inactive the schedule sends the rating elsewhere.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5219
Unfavorable Ankylosis of Two Digits of One Hand
When two digits of the same hand are ankylosed in an unfavorable position, the schedule stops rating them one finger at a time and rates the pair as a unit under DC 5219. Which two digits they are, and whether it is the dominant hand, set the evaluation: the thumb-plus-any-finger combination pays the most and a pair drawn from the long, ring and little fingers pays the least.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5235
Vertebral Fracture or Dislocation
Broken or dislocated spinal bones that may limit movement or cause pain.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5277
Weak Foot
DC 5277 covers bilateral weak foot — muscle atrophy, disturbed circulation and weakness in both feet arising from an underlying constitutional condition. It is not really a stand-alone evaluation: the schedule says to rate the underlying condition and treats 10 percent as the minimum. Identifying that underlying condition is therefore the whole claim.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 5053
Wrist Replacement (Prosthesis)
Your wrist joint has been replaced with a prosthesis, and VA evaluates the result under diagnostic code 5053. Severe chronic residuals are worth more on your dominant (major) side than on your non-dominant (minor) side, but the minimum is the same for either wrist.
Neurological Conditions24
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 8017
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
DC 8017 has one evaluation, 100 percent, and its criterion is the disease: the row reads "Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis" and nothing else. Unlike multiple sclerosis or Parkinson's disease in the same block of the schedule, there is no minimum to build up from and no ladder to argue. The code's one note says to consider the need for special monthly compensation. Part 3 gives ALS a presumption of its own: 38 CFR 3.318 service connects ALS that appears at any time after discharge, with three exceptions, one of them less than 90 days of active, continuous service.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 8521
Common Peroneal (External Popliteal) Nerve Paralysis
The common peroneal nerve - called the external popliteal nerve in the rating schedule's older terminology - wraps around the outside of the knee and controls lifting the foot. Damage to it is the classic cause of foot drop. Both names describe the same nerve and the same diagnostic code.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 8523
Deep Peroneal Nerve Paralysis
The deep peroneal nerve controls the muscles that lift the foot and toes upward (dorsiflexion), and damage to it causes weakness or paralysis distinct from the more commonly discussed external popliteal (common peroneal) nerve. Because these nerve branches are frequently confused in medical records, clearly identifying the deep branch specifically matters for this claim.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 8910
Epilepsy, Grand Mal (Convulsive Disorder)
This code covers epilepsy, a neurological condition causing recurrent seizures from abnormal electrical activity in the brain, and the rating is based almost entirely on how often major and minor seizures occur, even while on medication. A detailed seizure log is often the single most important piece of evidence for this claim.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 8529
External Cutaneous Nerve of Thigh, Paralysis
This code covers the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve (the external cutaneous nerve of the thigh), which provides sensation to the outer thigh but doesn't control muscle movement, so this condition causes numbness, tingling, or burning pain rather than weakness. Because it's a purely sensory nerve, the rating is capped at a lower level than motor nerve conditions.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 8526
Femoral (Anterior Crural) Nerve Paralysis
The femoral nerve - called the anterior crural nerve in the rating schedule's older terminology - runs down the front of the thigh and drives the quadriceps, the muscles that straighten the knee. Both names describe the same nerve and the same diagnostic code.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 8626
Femoral (Anterior Crural) Nerve, Neuritis
This code covers neuritis (inflammation) of the femoral nerve specifically, which is a different condition from femoral nerve paralysis - neuritis causes pain, numbness, or weakness from nerve irritation, without necessarily involving the same degree of motor loss as true paralysis. The rating scale and evidence needed are similar, but this code applies when inflammation, not structural nerve damage, is the primary issue.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 8530
Ilioinguinal Nerve, Paralysis
Nerve damage near the groin, often causing numbness or pain in the lower abdomen or genitals.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 8524
Internal Popliteal (Tibial) Nerve, Paralysis
The internal popliteal nerve is the older anatomical name for the tibial nerve at the level of the knee, before it branches further down the leg. DC 8524 covers paralysis at that higher, more proximal point, which affects movement and sensation through the lower leg and foot.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 8515
Median Nerve Paralysis
Damage to the median nerve causing weakness, pain, or paralysis in the hand.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 8511
Middle Radicular Group (Nerve Damage)
Nerve damage in the neck causing arm weakness, tingling, or loss of function.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 8100
Migraine
Severe recurring headaches that may include nausea, light sensitivity, and inability to function.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 8018
Multiple Sclerosis
DC 8018 prints a single line: minimum rating, 30 percent. That line is not the code's ladder. The paragraph that opens 38 CFR 4.124a says these diseases and their residuals may, with the exceptions noted, be rated from 10 to 100 percent in proportion to the impairment of motor, sensory, or mental function, referring to the appropriate bodily system of the schedule, and the note printed under DC 8025 requires ascertainable residuals for the minimum. So an evaluation above 30 percent is built from the residuals, and 30 percent is the floor once a residual is shown. For the presumption, Part 3 gives multiple sclerosis the longest window in its chronic-disease rule: seven years from separation, where most chronic diseases get one.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 8522
Musculocutaneous Nerve, Paralysis
Paralysis or weakness of the musculocutaneous (superficial peroneal) nerve in the lower leg, which supplies the muscles that turn the foot outward and sensation to the top of the foot.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 8025
Myasthenia Gravis
DC 8025 prints a single line, minimum rating, 30 percent, and under it the note that governs the minimum ratings for residuals under every code from 8000 to 8025. The minimum requires ascertainable residuals. Anything above it is assigned through the residuals, and the paragraph that opens 38 CFR 4.124a says these diseases may, with the exceptions noted, be rated from 10 to 100 percent in proportion to the impairment of motor, sensory, or mental function, referring to the appropriate bodily system of the schedule. So the 30 percent is a floor, not a cap. Part 3 lists myasthenia gravis among the chronic diseases presumed service connected when they become manifest to a degree of 10 percent or more within a year of separation.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 8108
Narcolepsy
Narcolepsy is a chronic neurological sleep disorder that causes sudden, uncontrollable episodes of falling asleep during the day, along with disrupted, poor-quality sleep at night. Some veterans also experience cataplexy, a sudden loss of muscle tone triggered by strong emotion.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 8004
Paralysis Agitans (Parkinson's Disease)
The rating schedule calls it paralysis agitans, and DC 8004 prints a single line: minimum rating, 30 percent. That line is not the code's ladder. The paragraph that opens 38 CFR 4.124a says these diseases and their residuals may, with the exceptions noted, be rated from 10 to 100 percent in proportion to the impairment of motor, sensory, or mental function, naming tremors and disturbances of gait among what to consider, and the note printed under DC 8025 requires ascertainable residuals for the minimum. So an evaluation above 30 percent is built from the residuals, and 30 percent is the floor once a residual is shown. Part 3 gives Parkinson's disease three separate presumptions: as a chronic disease, for herbicide exposure, and for the Camp Lejeune water supply.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 8520
Paralysis of the Sciatic Nerve
Damage to the sciatic nerve that causes leg weakness, pain, or paralysis.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 8525
Posterior Tibial Nerve Paralysis
The posterior tibial nerve runs down the back of the calf and controls movement and sensation in the foot and toes. Damage to this nerve can cause numbness, tingling, weakness, or in severe cases the foot becoming fixed in a downward (plantar flexed) position, and it's most often linked to a specific leg injury or surgery.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 8045
Residuals of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
TBI results from head trauma and can cause lasting issues with memory, mood, sleep, and decision-making.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 8620
Sciatic Nerve, Neuritis
Inflammation of the sciatic nerve, causing sharp pain down one leg or both legs.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 8103
Tics, Convulsive
Involuntary muscle movements or vocal sounds that occur repeatedly.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 8516
Ulnar Nerve Paralysis
Damage to the ulnar nerve affecting the hand, especially the ring and pinky fingers, causing weakness, numbness, or loss of coordination.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 8510
Upper Radicular Group (Nerve Damage)
Damage to the upper radicular nerve group (the fifth and sixth cervical nerves), affecting shoulder and elbow movement.
Respiratory System10
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 6602
Bronchial Asthma
A chronic lung condition that causes wheezing, coughing, and difficulty breathing due to inflamed airways.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 6601
Bronchiectasis
A condition where airways in the lungs become permanently widened, leading to mucus buildup and infections.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 6600
Chronic Bronchitis
Inflammation of the bronchial tubes causing persistent cough and mucus production.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 6516
Chronic Laryngitis
DC 6516 has two evaluations, 30 and 10 percent, and hoarseness is in both of them. What separates the tiers is not how bad the hoarseness sounds but what an examination of the larynx finds underneath it: inflammation of the cords or mucous membrane is the 10 percent criterion, while thickening or nodules of the cords, polyps, submucous infiltration, or pre-malignant changes on biopsy is the 30 percent one. So a claim under this code turns on a finding that has to be seen and written down, not on a description of the voice.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 6502
Deviated nasal septum
A deviated septum is a displacement of the wall between the nostrils that can block airflow on one or both sides. DC 6502 rates it only when the deviation is traumatic in origin, and only when the obstruction reaches a specific threshold.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 6819
Malignant Neoplasms of the Respiratory System
DC 6819 is the respiratory system's cancer code, and it pays one evaluation: 100 percent. Its whole criterion is its own title — neoplasms, malignant, any specified part of respiratory system exclusive of skin growths — so site, stage and treatment do not move the percentage while the code applies. Two rules decide everything around it. The note ends the 100 percent not when treatment ends but at a mandatory VA examination six months after treatment is discontinued, and where there has been no local recurrence or metastasis the rating is then built on the residuals. And 38 CFR 4.96(a) says that where there is lung or pleural involvement a DC 6819 evaluation is not combined with the other respiratory codes: one rating is assigned, under whichever code reflects the predominant disability.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 6817
Pulmonary embolism
Blockage in lung arteries typically caused by blood clots.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 6522
Rhinitis, Allergic or Vasomotor
Allergic or vasomotor rhinitis causes chronic nasal congestion, runniness, and sneezing, either from allergens or from a non-allergic sensitivity to irritants like temperature changes or strong smells. The VA rating is based specifically on nasal airflow obstruction and the presence of nasal polyps, not on the severity of sneezing or congestion alone.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 6510
Sinusitis, chronic pansinusitis
Chronic pansinusitis is inflammation affecting all of the sinus cavities at once, causing recurring congestion, facial pressure, and infections that often require repeated antibiotic treatment. It's presumptively linked to Gulf War-era burn pit exposure for veterans who served in the Southwest Asia theater.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 6847
Sleep Apnea Syndromes
Sleep apnea is a disorder where breathing repeatedly stops or becomes shallow during sleep, fragmenting rest and often leading to loud snoring, daytime fatigue, and difficulty concentrating. Left untreated, it's also linked to higher blood pressure and heart strain, which is part of why the VA rates it based on treatment need rather than just the diagnosis.
Skin Conditions10
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7819
Benign skin neoplasms
Benign skin neoplasms are non-cancerous growths of the skin. DC 7819 does not rate the growth itself and states no percentages: its single instruction is to "Rate as disfigurement of the head, face, or neck (DC 7800), scars (DC's 7801, 7802, 7803, 7804, or 7805), or impairment of function." So the evaluation comes from what the growth, or its removal, leaves behind — disfigurement, a scar, or lost function — and the evidence has to describe that residual, not just the lesion.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7806
Dermatitis or Eczema
A chronic skin condition causing rashes, redness, itching, or flaking, often worsened by allergens or stress.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7813
Dermatophytosis (e.g. athlete’s foot, ringworm)
Fungal skin infections affecting feet, nails, groin, or body.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7800
Disfigurement of the Head, Face or Neck
Visible scarring or distortion of the face, head, or neck.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7811
Lupus Vulgaris (Cutaneous Tuberculosis)
Lupus vulgaris is tuberculosis of the skin. The schedule lists it as "Tuberculosis luposa (lupus vulgaris), active or inactive," so the code covers the disease in either state. DC 7811 states no percentages of its own: its entire entry is the instruction "Rate under §§ 4.88c or 4.89, whichever is appropriate," so the evaluation comes from those sections rather than from anything in this code.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7801
Scars With Underlying Soft Tissue Damage (Not of the Head, Face, or Neck)
DC 7801 covers burn scars, and scars from any other cause, that are not on the head, face, or neck and that are associated with underlying soft tissue damage. That association with the tissue beneath the scar is what places a scar under this code rather than DC 7802 — not how deep the scar looks and not whether it runs in a straight line. The rating is then set by area: how much of the body the qualifying scar or scars cover, starting at 6 square inches (39 sq. cm.).
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7802
Scars Without Underlying Soft Tissue Damage (Not of the Head, Face, or Neck)
DC 7802 covers burn scars, and scars from any other cause, that are not on the head, face, or neck and that are not associated with underlying soft tissue damage. It is the counterpart to DC 7801, and the difference between the two codes is that association — not the burn origin, and not how superficial the scar looks. This code offers one evaluation only: 10 percent, and only where the scar or scars cover an area of 144 square inches (929 sq. cm.) or greater.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7805
Scars, Other
DC 7805 is not a category of scar. The schedule titles it "Scars, other; and other effects of scars evaluated under diagnostic codes 7800, 7801, 7802, or 7804," and its whole entry is one instruction: evaluate any disabling effect of a scar that those four codes did not already account for, under whatever diagnostic code covers that effect. It states no percentages of its own.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7804
Scars, Unstable or Painful
DC 7804 evaluates scars that are unstable, painful, or both, and it rates them by count — how many scars qualify, not their size, location, or appearance. Note (1) defines an unstable scar as one where, for any reason, there is frequent loss of covering of skin over the scar. A painful scar and an unstable scar count the same toward the tier, and where a single scar is both, Note (2) adds 10 percent on top.
- DIAGNOSTIC CODE 7821
Scleroderma
The schedule has no diagnostic code of its own titled scleroderma. DC 7821 covers "cutaneous manifestations of collagen-vascular diseases not listed elsewhere," and names scleroderma, calcinosis cutis, subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus, and dermatomyositis inside that title. What this code evaluates is the skin involvement, under the General Rating Formula for the Skin: how much of the body or of the exposed areas the characteristic lesions cover, and how much systemic therapy the condition has required over the past 12 months.