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  6. 2025 ICD-10-CM Code H35.9

2025 ICD-10-CM Diagnosis Code H35.9

Unspecified retinal disorder

ICD-10-CM Code:
H35.9
ICD-10 Code for:
Unspecified retinal disorder
Is Billable?
Yes - Valid for Submission
Chronic Condition Indicator: [1]
Chronic
Code Navigator:

H35.9 is a billable diagnosis code used to specify a medical diagnosis of unspecified retinal disorder. The code is valid during the current fiscal year for the submission of HIPAA-covered transactions from October 01, 2024 through September 30, 2025.

Unspecified diagnosis codes like H35.9 are acceptable when clinical information is unknown or not available about a particular condition. Although a more specific code is preferable, unspecified codes should be used when such codes most accurately reflect what is known about a patient's condition. Specific diagnosis codes should not be used if not supported by the patient's medical record.

Code Classification

  • Diseases of the eye and adnexa
    H00–H59
    • Disorders of choroid and retina
      H30-H36
      • Other retinal disorders
        H35

Approximate Synonyms

The following list of clinical terms are approximate synonyms, alternative descriptions, or common phrases that might be used by patients, healthcare providers, or medical coders to describe the same condition. These synonyms and related diagnosis terms are often used when searching for an ICD-10 code, especially when the exact medical terminology is unclear. Whether you're looking for lay terms, similar diagnosis names, or common language alternatives, this list can help guide you to the correct ICD-10 classification.

  • Advanced retinal disease
  • Bilateral disorder of macula of eyes
  • Bilateral lesion of retina of eyes
  • Bilateral multiple lesions of retina without detachment
  • Degeneration of retina
  • Disorder of macula of left eye
  • Disorder of macula of retina
  • Disorder of macula of right eye
  • Disorder of retina caused by talc
  • Disorder of retina of left eye
  • Disorder of retina of right eye
  • Disorder of vitreous body and/or retina
  • Generalized retinal degeneration
  • Generalized retinal degeneration of right eye
  • Lesion of retina
  • Lesion of retina of left eye
  • Lesion of retina of right eye
  • Multiple lesions of retina of left eye without detachment
  • Multiple lesions of retina of right eye without detachment
  • Multiple lesions of retina without detachment
  • Optic atrophy secondary to retinal disease
  • Retinal abnormality - non-diabetes
  • Retinal disorder

Clinical Classification

Clinical Classifications group individual ICD-10-CM diagnosis codes into broader, clinically meaningful categories. These categories help simplify complex data by organizing related conditions under common clinical themes.

They are especially useful for data analysis, reporting, and clinical decision-making. Even when diagnosis codes differ, similar conditions can be grouped together based on their clinical relevance. Each category is assigned a unique CCSR code that represents a specific clinical concept, often tied to a body system or medical specialty.

Retinal and vitreous conditions

CCSR Code: EYE005

Inpatient Default: Y - Yes, default inpatient assignment for principal diagnosis or first-listed diagnosis.

Outpatient Default: Y - Yes, default outpatient assignment for principal diagnosis or first-listed diagnosis.

Index to Diseases and Injuries References

The following annotation back-references for this diagnosis code are found in the injuries and diseases index. The Index to Diseases and Injuries is an alphabetical listing of medical terms, with each term mapped to one or more ICD-10-CM code(s).

Convert H35.9 to ICD-9-CM

Below are the ICD-9 codes that most closely match this ICD-10 code, based on the General Equivalence Mappings (GEMs). This ICD-10 to ICD-9 crosswalk tool is helpful for coders who need to reference legacy diagnosis codes for audits, historical claims, or approximate code comparisons.

Retinal disorder NOS

ICD-9-CM: 362.9

This is a direct match with no additional mapping qualifiers. The absence of a flag generally means the mapping is considered exact or precise. In other words, the ICD-10 code maps cleanly to the ICD-9 code without qualification, approximation, or needing multiple codes.

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Patient Education


Retinal Disorders

The retina is a layer of tissue in the back of your eye that senses light and sends images to your brain. In the center of this nerve tissue is the macula. It provides the sharp, central vision needed for reading, driving and seeing fine detail.

Retinal disorders affect this vital tissue. They can affect your vision, and some can be serious enough to cause blindness. Examples are:

  • Macular degeneration - a disease that destroys your sharp, central vision
  • Diabetic eye disease
  • Retinal detachment - a medical emergency, when the retina is pulled away from the back of the eye
  • Retinoblastoma - cancer of the retina. It is most common in young children.
  • Macular pucker - scar tissue on the macula
  • Macular hole - a small break in the macula that usually happens to people over 60
  • Floaters - cobwebs or specks in your field of vision

NIH: National Eye Institute


[Learn More in MedlinePlus]

Code History

  • FY 2024 - No Change, effective from 10/1/2023 through 9/30/2024
  • FY 2023 - No Change, effective from 10/1/2022 through 9/30/2023
  • FY 2022 - No Change, effective from 10/1/2021 through 9/30/2022
  • FY 2021 - No Change, effective from 10/1/2020 through 9/30/2021
  • FY 2020 - No Change, effective from 10/1/2019 through 9/30/2020
  • FY 2019 - No Change, effective from 10/1/2018 through 9/30/2019
  • FY 2018 - No Change, effective from 10/1/2017 through 9/30/2018
  • FY 2017 - No Change, effective from 10/1/2016 through 9/30/2017
  • FY 2016 - New Code, effective from 10/1/2015 through 9/30/2016. This was the first year ICD-10-CM was implemented into the HIPAA code set.

Footnotes

[1] Chronic - a chronic condition code indicates a condition lasting 12 months or longer and its effect on the patient based on one or both of the following criteria:

  • The condition results in the need for ongoing intervention with medical products,treatment, services, and special equipment
  • The condition places limitations on self-care, independent living, and social interactions.