Organs of Special Sense (Eye)§ 4.79Updated
Rating criteria

VA Diagnostic Code 6019Ptosis, unilateral or bilateral:

Rated under § 4.79. No rating levels have been extracted for this code yet — use the official source.

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In short

Summary

Evaluate based on visual impairment or, in the absence of visual impairment, on disfigurement (diagnostic code 7800).

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This code has no itemised criteria in our copy of the schedule. Use the official source link for the controlling text.

VA Disability Rating for Ptosis (Diagnostic Code 6019)

Understanding Ptosis and How the VA Rates It

Body System: Organs of Special Sense (Eye) Diagnostic Code: 6019 Regulation: 38 CFR § 4.79


What Is Ptosis?

Ptosis refers to drooping of the eyelid. It can affect one eye (unilateral) or both eyes (bilateral). Depending on how the condition presents, it may affect a person's vision, their appearance, or both.


How the VA Rates Ptosis

Unlike some conditions that use a fixed set of percentage levels, ptosis is evaluated based on the effect it has, using one of two approaches:

  • Based on visual impairment — The VA first looks at whether the drooping eyelid causes an impairment to vision.
  • Based on disfigurement — If there is no visual impairment, the condition is instead evaluated on disfigurement, using the criteria under diagnostic code 7800.

What the VA Looks For

When rating ptosis, the VA considers:

  • Visual impairment. Whether and to what extent the eyelid drooping affects the eye's vision.
  • Disfigurement (when no visual impairment is present). If the condition does not cause a visual impairment, it is evaluated on disfigurement under diagnostic code 7800.

Because ptosis is rated according to its effects rather than a preset ladder of percentages, the specific evaluation depends on how the condition presents in each individual case.

These criteria are a rendering of § 4.79, diagnostic code 6019. The official version is the one that governs your rating.

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What next

How to claim this

Knowing the criteria is the first half. Getting your file to show them is the second.

  1. Find your level in the stack

    Read each rung against what your medical records already say. The level your records document today is the one the VA can support today.

  2. Name the gap

    Look at the rung above yours and write down exactly what it asks for that your file does not show yet — a diagnosis, a measurement, a prescribed brace, a doctor’s opinion linking it to service.

  3. Claim it by code

    File under diagnostic code 6019 and attach the evidence for the level you are asking for. Other Organs of Special Sense (Eye) codes may cover your secondary conditions.

Find out which rating your evidence supports.

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