What is the VA rating for Liver Conditions?

Both DC 7311 (residuals of injury of the liver) and DC 7317 (gallbladder, injury of) can dispatch to DC 7301 (adhesions of the peritoneum) depending on the specific residuals or predominant disability. DC 7301 has not yet been separately researched and built in this repo -- selecting it in this hub returns an explicit disclosure, never a guessed number.

• This is genuinely open-ended in the sense that DC 7301 belongs to an entirely different diagnostic code family (the peritoneum, not the liver or gallbladder itself) that has not yet gone through RatingScope's research process.
• RatingScope discloses this rather than guessing a rating for DC 7301.
• DC 7311's and DC 7317's dispatch to DC 7301 are tracked as two distinct disclosures internally, since a same-diagnostic-code destination reached from two different starting codes is not automatically the same finding.
• DC 7317's own Note states that, when rating gallbladder injuries analogous to DC 7301, a finding of adhesions is not necessary -- a nuance disclosed here rather than modeled as a computable gate, since DC 7301 itself is not yet built.
• This follows the same pattern as Scars' DC 7805 gap-fill (COND-046): a genuinely unbuilt destination code becomes an honest disclosure, not a guessed number.

Records to review: treatment records documenting the specific residual finding.

DC 7312's Note 1 states that hepatocellular carcinoma occurring with cirrhosis is rated under DC 7343 (malignant neoplasms of the digestive system, exclusive of skin growths) in lieu of DC 7312. DC 7343 is not built in this repo.

• This matters only when hepatocellular carcinoma (a specific type of liver cancer) is documented together with cirrhosis -- it is not a general alternative available at every DC 7312 severity level.
• DC 7343 belongs to an entirely different diagnostic code family (malignant neoplasms of the digestive system) that has not yet gone through RatingScope's research process.
• RatingScope discloses this as a known, deferred gap rather than guessing a DC 7343 rating.
• If your records document hepatocellular carcinoma together with cirrhosis, this hub's DC 7312 guidance alone should not be treated as the final word.

Records to review: pathology records documenting hepatocellular carcinoma; imaging records documenting cirrhosis.

38 CFR 4.114 states that diagnostic codes 7301 through 7329, 7331, 7342, 7345 through 7350, 7352, and 7355 through 7357 cannot be combined with each other using the standard combined-ratings table. Instead, a single predominant-disability code is chosen, possibly elevated one step. RatingScope does not automate this rule.

• This rule spans nearly this entire hub's diagnostic range: DC 7311, 7312, 7314, 7315, 7317, 7318, 7345, and 7350 all fall inside the non-combinable range.
• DC 7351 (liver transplant) and DC 7354 (Hepatitis C) are the two notable EXCEPTIONS -- neither is listed in section 4.114's non-combination range. DC 7351's own Note affirmatively states it CAN combine with other post-transplant residuals under the appropriate body system(s), per section 4.14. DC 7354 is a pure redirect into DC 7345, which IS in the non-combinable range -- so a Hepatitis C finding combining with another 7301-7329-range finding follows the same non-combination rule as DC 7345 itself.
• RatingScope discloses this as a known, deferred gap rather than guessing which code would predominate or attempting the elevation itself.
• This is the same treatment given to Peptic Disease's and Crohn's Disease/IBD's identical section 4.114 disclosure, Sleep Apnea's section 4.96(a) combination rule, and Hand/Fingers' Rule (e) -- a genuinely open-ended clinical judgment, not a lookup table.
• DC 7345's own Note 4 states a more granular, specific anti-double-counting mechanism within this same non-combination family: evaluate sequelae, such as cirrhosis or malignancy of the liver, under an appropriate diagnostic code, but do not use the same signs and symptoms as the basis for evaluation under DC 7354 and under a diagnostic code for sequelae. This means a veteran whose chronic liver disease (DC 7345/7354) has progressed to cirrhosis (DC 7312) or liver cancer cannot have the identical documented signs and symptoms counted toward both ratings.

Records to review: treatment records documenting multiple liver-range conditions; clinician assessment of predominant disability.

DC 7351 (liver transplant) is 100 percent indefinite from the date of hospital admission for transplant surgery; 60 percent minimum while eligible and awaiting transplant; 30 percent minimum following transplant surgery.

• The 60 percent and 30 percent values are MINIMUM (floor) evaluations -- the same floor idiom already established for Heart Conditions' DC 7019 cardiac-transplant floor and Genitourinary's DC 7500/7531 kidney floors.
• DC 7351 is the one code in this diagnostic range that CAN combine with other post-transplant residuals under the appropriate body system(s), per section 4.14 -- its own Note affirmatively states this, unlike most of this range, which the predominant-disability-picture rule bars from combining with each other.
• The given rating criteria for DC 7351 name no additional underlying severity scale beyond the 3 status-based values -- this hub models it as a flat 3-state dispatch rather than inventing an escalation path not stated in the regulation's own text.

Records to review: surgical records documenting transplant admission date; transplant eligibility and waitlist records.

DC 7350 (liver abscess) is 100 percent for 6 months from the date of initial diagnosis. After 6 months, VA determines the appropriate disability rating by mandatory VA examination, rating the condition based on chronic residuals under the appropriate body system.

• The post-6-month phase names an open-ended destination ("the appropriate body system") rather than a single diagnostic code -- RatingScope discloses this rather than guessing which body system's code would apply.
• This is the same open-ended-destination discipline already established for Muscle Injuries' DC 5325/5328.
• If your records document a liver abscess more than 6 months ago, review the applicable chronic-residual finding under its own specific diagnostic code, not this DC 7350 guidance alone.

Records to review: treatment records documenting the initial diagnosis date; post-treatment residual findings.

DC 7354 (Hepatitis C, or non-A, non-B hepatitis) is a pure internal redirect to DC 7345's identical 5-tier criteria. It carries no independent criteria of its own under the current, 2024-revised schedule.

• Confirmed per RSCH-050: DC 7354 formerly had its own independent, parallel 6-tier ladder under an older schedule structure. The 2024 schedule rewrite removed that independent ladder and made DC 7354 rate entirely as DC 7345 instead.
• This means a Hepatitis C diagnosis is evaluated using this hub's DC 7345 criteria above, including the same MELD-independent symptom/therapy-window findings and Note 2's contraindication reroute into DC 7312.
• Confirming a diagnostic code's current, independent existence directly against the regulation (rather than assuming a familiar-sounding code still has its own table) is the same discipline that caught Peptic Disease's DC 7307/7308 redirects.

Records to review: Liver, Gallbladder, and Pancreas DBQ; treatment records documenting diagnosis.

DC 7315 (cholelithiasis, chronic) is a pure internal redirect: rated exactly as DC 7314 (chronic biliary tract disease). It carries no independent criteria of its own.

• A cholelithiasis (gallstones) diagnosis is evaluated using this hub's DC 7314 criteria: attack frequency in the past 12 months, or whether biliary tract stricture dilatation was required.
• This is the same pure-redirect treatment already established for Peptic Disease's DC 7307/DC 7308 redirects and Genitourinary's tuberculosis cross-reference.

Records to review: Liver, Gallbladder, and Pancreas DBQ; treatment records documenting attack frequency.

DC 7311 has no independent tiers of its own. Depending on the specific residuals, it is separately evaluated as DC 7301 (adhesions of the peritoneum, not yet built), DC 7312 (cirrhosis of the liver), or DC 7345 (chronic liver disease without cirrhosis).

• RatingScope asks which of the 3 destinations applies as a direct fact -- it does not infer the destination from injury severity.
• The cirrhosis and chronic-liver-disease branches reuse this hub's own DC 7312 and DC 7345 ladders directly, rather than duplicating them.
• The adhesions-of-the-peritoneum branch is a genuine disclosure, since DC 7301 is not yet built in this repo.
• DC 7311's own text, confirmed verbatim via two independent primary sources, says to 'separately evaluate as' DC 7301, DC 7312, or DC 7345 -- yet section 4.114's own introductory sentence forbids combining DC 7301, 7312, and 7345 with each other in the first place. RatingScope reads this as an instruction to select whichever single destination code the specific documented residuals actually support, not as an instruction to assign more than one of the three and combine them, since the section-wide bar would foreclose that outcome regardless. A competing reading, that 'separately evaluate as' functions as a routing instruction rather than a combination instruction, is textually plausible and not adopted here; the regulation itself does not resolve which reading controls.

Records to review: surgical and treatment records documenting the specific residual finding.

DC 7317 has no independent tiers of its own. Rate as DC 7301 (adhesions of the peritoneum, not yet built), DC 7314 (chronic biliary tract disease), or DC 7318 (complications of cholecystectomy), depending on the predominant disability.

• RatingScope asks which of the 3 destinations applies as a direct fact -- it does not infer predominance from injury severity.
• The biliary-tract-disease and cholecystectomy-complications branches reuse this hub's own DC 7314 and DC 7318 ladders directly, rather than duplicating them.
• DC 7317's own Note states that when rating gallbladder injuries analogous to DC 7301, a finding of adhesions is not necessary -- unlike a typical DC 7301 finding, which would ordinarily require documented adhesions.

Records to review: surgical and treatment records documenting the specific residual finding.

Liver conditions evidence is strongest when different records describe the same confirmed pattern consistently across diagnosis, MELD-score or symptom findings, attack frequency, and treatment intensity.

• Medical records can document diagnosis, laboratory values supporting a MELD score, imaging findings, and treatment history.
• The Liver, Gallbladder, and Pancreas DBQ organizes findings across most of this hub's diagnostic codes.
• Surgical records are especially important for DC 7311, DC 7317, and DC 7318, since their findings are specifically tied to injury or post-surgical residuals.
• No single record automatically determines a percentage; the confirmed, documented pattern across the applicable diagnostic code's specific findings matters.

Records to review: medical records; Liver, Gallbladder, and Pancreas DBQ; surgical records.

The Liver, Gallbladder, and Pancreas DBQ organizes structured findings across most of this hub's diagnostic codes, despite covering 3 separate organ systems in one form.

• The DBQ's diagnosis, laboratory, and symptom fields map onto DC 7312's MELD-score and symptom-based findings and DC 7345's therapy-window and symptom findings.
• Its surgical-history fields map onto DC 7311, DC 7317, and DC 7318's post-injury or post-surgical findings.
• The examiner gathers evidence; the examiner does not issue the final benefits decision.

Records to review: Liver, Gallbladder, and Pancreas DBQ; C&P examination; treatment history.