E50.5 — Vitamin A deficiency with night blindness
Is E50.5 billable?
Yes — E50.5 is billable for FY2027. E50.5 is a valid, billable ICD-10-CM code at the highest level of specificity in its branch. E50.5 may be submitted for encounters from October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027.
E50.5 at a glance
| Code | E50.5 |
|---|---|
| Description | Vitamin A deficiency with night blindness |
| Billable | Yes |
| Code set | ICD-10-CM FY2027 |
| Valid for encounters | October 1, 2026 – September 30, 2027 |
Which MS-DRGs does E50.5 group to?
E50.5 sits in MDC 02 and helps define the logic of 2 MS-DRGs (version 44, FY2027). Which one a stay actually groups to also depends on procedures and secondary diagnoses.
- 124Other Disorders of the Eye with MCC or Thrombolytic Agentmedical
- 125Other Disorders of the Eye without MCCmedical
How is E50.5 listed in the Alphabetic Index?
These are the routes through the Alphabetic Index that lead to E50.5. They show the wording a clinician may have documented, which often differs from the Tabular description.
- Hemeralopia › vitamin A deficiency (day blindness)
- Amblyopia › nocturnal › vitamin A deficiency (congenital) (ex anopsia) (partial) (suppression)
- Blindness › night › vitamin A deficiency (acquired) (congenital) (both eyes)
- Deficiency, deficient › vitaminNOS › A › with › night blindness
Excludes1 — never code together — inherited from Chapter 4
The conditions below can never be reported together with E50.5 on the same claim. An Excludes1 note means the two conditions cannot occur in the same patient, so reporting both is a coding error.
- transitory endocrine and metabolic disorders specific to newborn (P70-P74)
Excludes1 — never code together — inherited from E50
The conditions below can never be reported together with E50.5 on the same claim. An Excludes1 note means the two conditions cannot occur in the same patient, so reporting both is a coding error.
- sequelae of vitamin A deficiency (E64.1)
Excludes2 — not included here — inherited from E50-E64
The conditions below are not part of E50.5, but a patient may have both at the same time. When documentation supports it, E50.5 and the excluded code may both be reported.
- nutritional anemias (D50-D53)
How long has E50.5 existed?
E50.5 has been in ICD-10-CM since at least FY2016, the earliest fiscal year on record here.
Derived from the official order files for FY2016–FY2026. FY2017 and FY2020 publish no order file, so those years are not covered.
Which codes are confused with E50.5?
ICD-10-CM declares these codes mutually exclusive with E50.5 — exactly one of each pair can be correct for a given encounter.
Which conditions are coded to E50.5?
What other codes are in the E50 family? (9)
- E50.0Vitamin A deficiency with conjunctival xerosis
- E50.1Vitamin A deficiency with Bitot's spot and conjunctival xerosis
- E50.2Vitamin A deficiency with corneal xerosis
- E50.3Vitamin A deficiency with corneal ulceration and xerosis
- E50.4Vitamin A deficiency with keratomalacia
- E50.6Vitamin A deficiency with xerophthalmic scars of cornea
- E50.7Other ocular manifestations of vitamin A deficiency
- E50.8Other manifestations of vitamin A deficiency
- E50.9Vitamin A deficiency, unspecified