ICD-9 Code 377.9

Unspecified disorder of optic nerve and visual pathways

Not Valid for Submission

377.9 is a legacy non-billable code used to specify a medical diagnosis of unspecified disorder of optic nerve and visual pathways. This code was replaced on September 30, 2015 by its ICD-10 equivalent.

ICD-9: 377.9
Short Description:Optic nerve disorder NOS
Long Description:Unspecified disorder of optic nerve and visual pathways

Convert 377.9 to ICD-10

The following crosswalk between ICD-9 to ICD-10 is based based on the General Equivalence Mappings (GEMS) information:

  • H47.9 - Unspecified disorder of visual pathways

Code Classification

  • Diseases of the sense organs (360–389)
    • Disorders of the eye and adnexa (360-379)
      • 377 Disorders of optic nerve and visual pathways

Information for Medical Professionals

Information for Patients


Optic Nerve Disorders

The optic nerve is a bundle of more than 1 million nerve fibers that carry visual messages. You have one connecting the back of each eye (your retina) to your brain. Damage to an optic nerve can cause vision loss. The type of vision loss and how severe it is depends on where the damage occurs. It may affect one or both eyes.

There are many different types of optic nerve disorders, including:

  • Glaucoma is a group of diseases that are the leading cause of blindness in the United States. Glaucoma usually happens when the fluid pressure inside the eyes slowly rises and damages the optic nerve.
  • Optic neuritis is an inflammation of the optic nerve. Causes include infections and immune-related illnesses such as multiple sclerosis. Sometimes the cause is unknown.
  • Optic nerve atrophy is damage to the optic nerve. Causes include poor blood flow to the eye, disease, trauma, or exposure to toxic substances.
  • Optic nerve head drusen are pockets of protein and calcium salts that build up in the optic nerve over time

Contact your health care provider if you are having vision problems. Tests for optic nerve disorders may include eye exams, ophthalmoscopy (an examination of the back of your eye), and imaging tests. Treatment depends on which disorder that you have. With some optic nerve disorders, you may get your vision back. With others, there is no treatment, or treatment may only prevent further vision loss.


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ICD-9 Footnotes

General Equivalence Map Definitions
The ICD-9 and ICD-10 GEMs are used to facilitate linking between the diagnosis codes in ICD-9-CM and the new ICD-10-CM code set. The GEMs are the raw material from which providers, health information vendors and payers can derive specific applied mappings to meet their needs.

  • Approximate Flag - The approximate flag is on, indicating that the relationship between the code in the source system and the code in the target system is an approximate equivalent.
  • No Map Flag - The no map flag indicates that a code in the source system is not linked to any code in the target system.
  • Combination Flag - The combination flag indicates that more than one code in the target system is required to satisfy the full equivalent meaning of a code in the source system.