What is the VA rating for Larynx, Voice, and Pharynx?

DC 6515's entire content is a redirect: 'Rate under §§ 4.88c or 4.89, whichever is appropriate.' This is the same closed, historical, pre-1968 TB-pension provision already documented for Tuberculosis's DC 6732.

• Sections 4.88c and 4.89 govern a narrow, closed population of veterans whose non-pulmonary tuberculosis entitlement was established before August 19, 1968, tied to a repealed statute (Public Law 90-493).
• There is no live RatingScope hub for §§4.88b/4.88c/4.89 -- disclosed as out of scope, not built, since these sections have never themselves been the subject of a dedicated research pass in this repository.
• This is disclosure-only context, not a navigable cross-link, matching the same treatment already given to Tuberculosis's DC 6732.

Records to review: Historical entitlement records.

A total laryngectomy is a flat 100 percent rating. A partial laryngectomy's residuals are rated entirely under whichever of DC 6516 (laryngitis), DC 6519 (aphonia), or DC 6520 (stenosis) actually matches the documented finding -- it is not itself a flat tier.

• RatingScope asks which residual finding is documented as a direct fact (laryngitis pattern, aphonia pattern, or stenosis pattern), the same convention already used for Genitourinary's 7 confirmed 'whichever is predominant' dispatches -- it never infers the match or optimizes for the higher rating.
• If records document more than one residual pattern at once, or the specific residual is not yet documented, this is disclosed as needing further evidence rather than combined into an invented formula.
• A separate footnote directs review for special monthly compensation eligibility under 38 CFR 3.350 -- a distinct benefit determination, disclosed as context only, never a compensation-rating criterion.
• This finding (that DC 6518 is not simply a flat-rate code) was confirmed by a dedicated verbatim re-check (RSCH-053) after an earlier summary had understated its complexity.

Records to review: Sinusitis/Rhinitis and Other Conditions of the Nose, Throat, Larynx and Pharynx DBQ; Surgical records documenting total vs. partial laryngectomy and the specific residual finding.

DC 6519 covers complete organic aphonia at two tiers (100 percent for constant inability to communicate by speech, 60 percent for constant inability to speak above a whisper). Its own Note directs incomplete aphonia to be evaluated as laryngitis, chronic (DC 6516) instead.

• 'Incomplete' aphonia is not a lower tier of DC 6519 -- it is rated entirely under DC 6516's own hoarseness-based ladder, a direct same-hub dispatch.
• RatingScope asks completeness (complete vs. incomplete) as its own direct fact before determining which ladder applies.

Records to review: Sinusitis/Rhinitis and Other Conditions of the Nose, Throat, Larynx and Pharynx DBQ; Speech-language pathology evaluation.

DC 6520 rates larynx stenosis by a 4-tier FEV-1/Flow-Volume Loop ladder (100/60/30/10 percent), with the 100 percent tier alternately satisfied by a permanent tracheostomy. Its own Note also permits rating as aphonia (DC 6519) instead, with no stated rule for choosing between the two paths.

• Every FEV-1-based tier also requires the Flow-Volume Loop to be compatible with upper airway obstruction -- an FEV-1 number alone, without that compatibility finding, does not establish a tier.
• RatingScope asks which criteria the documented findings match (stenosis findings vs. aphonia findings) as a direct fact, the same convention used for DC 6518's partial-laryngectomy dispatch -- never an inferred 'higher of the two' selection.
• A pending VA rulemaking (RIN 2900-AQ72) proposes the sole substantive rewrite in this entire code range for DC 6520 specifically: a stenosis-percentage-based scheme replacing the current FEV-1/Flow-Volume Loop measurements. Not yet finalized.

Records to review: Pulmonary function testing (FEV-1, Flow-Volume Loop); Records documenting permanent tracheostomy, if applicable.

DC 6521 rates pharynx injuries at a flat 50 percent when any one of three bundled findings is documented: stricture or obstruction of the pharynx/nasopharynx, absence of the soft palate from trauma/chemical burn/granulomatous disease, or paralysis of the soft palate with swallowing difficulty and speech impairment.

• This is confirmed independent rating criteria, not a redirect -- a dedicated verbatim re-check (RSCH-053) corrected an earlier log entry that had mistakenly grouped DC 6521 with DC 6515's tuberculosis-provision redirect.
• Any one of the three findings independently qualifies -- they are not required to appear together.

Records to review: Sinusitis/Rhinitis and Other Conditions of the Nose, Throat, Larynx and Pharynx DBQ; Records documenting the specific pharynx or nasopharynx finding.