Cirrhosis of the liver

VA rates cirrhosis of the liver under Diagnostic Code 7312. Five percentage levels are possible: 100%, 60%, 30%, 10%, and 0%. The rating turns on either your Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score or your symptoms, whichever the evidence supports. Where no MELD score is in the record, VA rates based on symptomatology alone.

A 100% rating applies when your MELD score is 15 or higher, or when you have continuous daily debilitating symptoms with generalized weakness plus at least one serious complication such as ascites, spontaneous bacterial peritonitis, hepatic encephalopathy, variceal hemorrhage, coagulopathy, portal gastropathy, or hepatopulmonary or hepatorenal syndrome. A 60% rating applies when your MELD score is greater than 11 but less than 15, or when you have daily fatigue with at least one episode of variceal hemorrhage, portal gastropathy, or hepatic encephalopathy in the past year. A 30% rating applies for a MELD score of 10 or 11, or signs of portal hypertension such as splenomegaly or ascites combined with weakness, anorexia, abdominal pain, or malaise. A 10% rating applies for a MELD score greater than 6 but less than 10, or evidence of anorexia, weakness, abdominal pain, or malaise. A 0% rating applies when you are asymptomatic but have a history of liver disease. If hepatocellular carcinoma develops alongside cirrhosis, VA rates that cancer under a separate diagnostic code instead of this one. VA also will not combine this rating with ratings for most other digestive conditions; if more than one applies, VA assigns a single rating under the code that best captures your overall disability.