H49.4
Header — not billableProgressive external ophthalmoplegia
The ICD-10 code for progressive external ophthalmoplegia is H49.4.
H49.4 is a non-billable header code. It groups related conditions but cannot be used on its own for reimbursement — select one of the 4 more specific codes below.
Clinical notes
Excludes1 (not coded here)
An Excludes1 note is a pure exclusion: the excluded condition and this code should never be reported together, because the two conditions cannot occur at the same time (e.g. a congenital form vs. an acquired form of the same disease).
- Kearns-Sayre syndrome (H49.81-)
Documentation support
General coding-documentation guidance — not a substitute for payer-specific requirements or professional coding judgment.
- •This is a non-billable header code. Documentation must support a more specific child code before this diagnosis can be reported on a claim.
- •Confirm the excluded condition(s) listed above are not also present — Excludes1 conditions cannot be coded together with this one.
- •As a general rule, code to the highest level of specificity supported by the documentation in the medical record.
Related codes in this category
- H49.0Third [oculomotor] nerve palsynon-billable header
- H49.1Fourth [trochlear] nerve palsynon-billable header
- H49.2Sixth [abducent] nerve palsynon-billable header
- H49.3Total (external) ophthalmoplegianon-billable header
- H49.8Other paralytic strabismusnon-billable header
- H49.9Unspecified paralytic strabismus
- H49.4Progressive external ophthalmoplegianon-billable header