A patient with Type 1 diabetes has developed moderate nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy. Which code best reflects this combination?

A patient with Type 1 diabetes has developed moderate nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy. Which code best reflects this combination?

• A. E10.339
• B. E10.329
• C. E11.329
• D. E10.349

Answer: (A)

The main idea is coding diabetes with an eye complication by using the diabetes code that includes an ophthalmic complication and then specifying the retinopathy severity. For Type 1 diabetes, the code starts with E10. The ophthalmic complication digit is introduced after the decimal as .3, so a code like E10.3xx covers diabetes with eye issues. The final digit then pinpoints the retinopathy severity. In this case, moderate nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy is represented by the ending digit 9, giving E10.339. So this code accurately reflects Type 1 diabetes with moderate NPDR. The other options either involve a different diabetes type (for example, Type 2) or indicate a different retinopathy severity than moderate NPDR, which is why they’re not correct for this scenario.

The main idea is coding diabetes with an eye complication by using the diabetes code that includes an ophthalmic complication and then specifying the retinopathy severity. For Type 1 diabetes, the code starts with E10. The ophthalmic complication digit is introduced after the decimal as .3, so a code like E10.3xx covers diabetes with eye issues. The final digit then pinpoints the retinopathy severity. In this case, moderate nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy is represented by the ending digit 9, giving E10.339. So this code accurately reflects Type 1 diabetes with moderate NPDR.

The other options either involve a different diabetes type (for example, Type 2) or indicate a different retinopathy severity than moderate NPDR, which is why they’re not correct for this scenario.