F04 vs R41.2
F04 and R41.2 can never be reported together. ICD-10-CM declares them mutually exclusive with an Excludes1 note, meaning the two conditions cannot occur in the same patient — so exactly one of them is correct for any given encounter.
The official note, declared on F04
retrograde amnesia (R41.2)
F04
Amnestic disorder due to known physiological condition
Billable
- Chapter 5
- Mental, Behavioral and Neurodevelopmental disorders
- Section
- F01-F09
Use when the record says
- Korsakov's psychosis or syndrome, nonalcoholic
Indexed under
- Amnes (t)ic syndrome (post-traumatic)
- Meynert's amentia (nonalcoholic)
- Toxemica cerebropathia psychica (nonalcoholic)
- Amentia › Meynert's
- Disease, diseased › Korsakoff's
R41.2
Retrograde amnesia
Billable
- Chapter 18
- Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified
- Section
- R40-R46
Indexed under
- Amnesia › retrograde
These two codes sit in different chapters of the Tabular List, which is usually the clearest signal that they describe different underlying processes rather than different degrees of the same one.
Excludes1 is not always absolute: where two conditions covered by the note are genuinely unrelated, CMS guidance permits reporting both. Document the reasoning rather than assuming it. More on Excludes1 vs Excludes2 · FY2027