Reference: 38 CFR 4.88b

Sources & Related Guides

What is the VA rating for Systemic Lupus Erythematosus?

Understand Systemic Lupus Erythematosus guidance under DC 6350, a standalone 3-tier ladder (100/60/10 percent) driven by exacerbation frequency and severity, distinct from the shared General Rating Formula for Infectious Diseases used elsewhere in this CFR section.

Condition Overview & Clinical Scope

DC 6350 rates systemic lupus erythematosus (disseminated) using a standalone 3-tier table (100/60/10 percent) driven by exacerbation frequency, duration, and severity. This is distinct from the shared General Rating Formula for Infectious Diseases (100 percent active / 0 percent resolved) that governs most other codes in 38 CFR 4.88b -- DC 6350 was not touched by the 2019 rulemaking (RIN 2900-AQ43) that modernized many of its neighboring codes, and its text still traces to the section's original 1996 rule.

EXPLORE THIS CONDITION

Explore Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Criteria & Tools

Start AssessmentAnswer condition-scoped questions using documented findings from your records or exam notes.ContinuePercentage GuideSee the published percentage tiers and what changes between them.ContinueSecondary ConditionsSee conditions commonly connected to this one in VA claims.Continue

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Common Questions & FAQs

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What are you trying to understand about systemic lupus erythematosus?

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Overview

About this condition

DC 6350 rates systemic lupus erythematosus (disseminated) using a standalone 3-tier table (100/60/10 percent) driven by exacerbation frequency, duration, and severity. This is distinct from the shared General Rating Formula for Infectious Diseases (100 percent active / 0 percent resolved) that governs most other codes in 38 CFR 4.88b -- DC 6350 was not touched by the 2019 rulemaking (RIN 2900-AQ43) that modernized many of its neighboring codes, and its text still traces to the section's original 1996 rule.

Regulatory authority: 38 CFR 4.88b, DC 6350

This hub explains the published DC 6350 criteria and common record language. It does not diagnose lupus, infer missing exacerbation documentation, determine service connection, or predict a VA decision. DC 6350 is explicitly not to be combined with DC 7809 (discoid lupus erythematosus, a Skin Conditions code) -- disclosed below, not computed. DC 6350's own Note also allows combining residuals under the appropriate body system instead of using this table, if that comparison would be higher -- this hub discloses that comparison below rather than computing it, because there is no closed, enumerable set of body-system residual pathways to compare against (see NHD-1).

Percentage Guides

Understanding Your Percentage

Select a pathway to see what the published criteria ask about, what records may clarify it, and what should not be assumed.

100%

Highest listed pathway

The 100% level describes acute lupus with frequent exacerbations producing severe impairment of health.

What separates the next level: The 60% level describes a lower exacerbation frequency (2 or 3 times per year) and does not require the same severe-impairment finding.

Review CFR criteria, examples, and evidence
Official CFR language
DC 6350 rates systemic lupus erythematosus, acute, with frequent exacerbations, producing severe impairment of health, at 100 percent.
Qualification explanation
Requires both a documented acute/frequent-exacerbation pattern and a severe impairment-of-health finding. Unlike the 60% tier's "2 or 3 times per year" and the 10% tier's "once or twice a year," the regulation's own text does not itself state a numeric threshold for what counts as "frequent" exacerbations at this tier.
Examples
Records documenting frequent lupus exacerbations with severe impairment of health over the past year.
Medical evidence
Rheumatology or other specialist treatment records; Documentation of exacerbation frequency and severity; Functional-impact documentation
Functional impact examples
Severe impairment of health from frequent exacerbations.
Common misconceptions
A lupus diagnosis alone, without documented frequent exacerbations and severe impairment, does not reach 100 percent.
Related topics
exacerbation frequency; severe impairment of health
Source context
38 CFR 4.88b; 6350; Current text traces to the section's original 1996 rule (61 FR 39875); confirmed not touched by RIN 2900-AQ43's 2019 modernization of neighboring codes.

60%

Next: 100%

The 60% level describes exacerbations lasting a week or more, occurring 2 or 3 times per year.

What separates the next level: The 100% level requires a more severe, frequent, and health-impairing pattern; the 10% level describes a lower frequency (1 to 2 times per year) or a merely symptomatic status.

Review CFR criteria, examples, and evidence
Official CFR language
DC 6350 rates systemic lupus erythematosus with exacerbations lasting a week or more, occurring 2 or 3 times per year, at 60 percent.
Qualification explanation
Requires both the weeklong-or-longer exacerbation duration and the 2-to-3-times-per-year frequency.
Examples
Records documenting 2 lupus exacerbations in the past year, each lasting 8 to 10 days.
Medical evidence
Rheumatology or other specialist treatment records; Documentation of exacerbation duration and annual frequency
Functional impact examples
Recurring weeklong periods of active lupus symptoms.
Common misconceptions
A single weeklong exacerbation in a year does not reach this tier -- the text requires 2 or 3 such exacerbations per year.
Related topics
exacerbation frequency; exacerbation duration
Source context
38 CFR 4.88b; 6350; Current text traces to the section's original 1996 rule (61 FR 39875); confirmed not touched by RIN 2900-AQ43's 2019 modernization of neighboring codes.

10%

Next: 60%

The 10% level describes exacerbations occurring once or twice a year, or being symptomatic during the past 2 years.

What separates the next level: The 60% level requires a documented weeklong-or-longer exacerbation duration occurring 2 or 3 times per year, a more frequent and sustained pattern than this tier.

Review CFR criteria, examples, and evidence
Official CFR language
DC 6350 rates systemic lupus erythematosus with exacerbations once or twice a year, or symptomatic during the past 2 years, at 10 percent.
Qualification explanation
Reached by either a documented exacerbation frequency of 1 to 2 times per year, or a documented symptomatic status at any point during the past 2 years.
Examples
Records documenting one lupus exacerbation in the past year, or ongoing lupus symptoms at some point in the past 2 years.
Medical evidence
Rheumatology or other specialist treatment records; Documentation of exacerbation frequency or symptomatic status
Functional impact examples
Occasional or infrequent lupus symptoms.
Common misconceptions
This is the baseline compensable tier for documented lupus -- it does not require a severe or frequent exacerbation pattern.
Related topics
exacerbation frequency; symptomatic status
Source context
38 CFR 4.88b; 6350; Current text traces to the section's original 1996 rule (61 FR 39875); confirmed not touched by RIN 2900-AQ43's 2019 modernization of neighboring codes.

Learn

Understand the details behind the criteria

Use these short guides to connect published terms with the records and observations that may clarify them.

The cross-system residual comparison: disclosed, not computed (NHD-1)

DC 6350's Note allows evaluating lupus residuals under the appropriate body system instead of this table, if that comparison results in a higher evaluation.

  • The Note reads: evaluate this condition either by combining the evaluations for residuals under the appropriate system, or by evaluating DC 6350, whichever method results in a higher evaluation.
  • Lupus can affect many body systems, including renal (kidney), dermatologic (skin), cardiac, hematologic (blood), and neurological systems.
  • The regulation does not name a fixed, enumerable list of which body-system residual pathways qualify for this comparison.
  • RatingScope does not guess at or build a computed comparison across this open-ended set. This is disclosed as a real, genuine alternative rating path, not resolved or estimated.

Records to review: Rheumatology treatment records; Records documenting residual findings in any affected body system.

Discoid lupus erythematosus (DC 7809): a separate, skin-limited code

DC 6350 is explicitly not to be combined with ratings under DC 7809, the Skin Conditions code for discoid (skin-limited) lupus erythematosus.

  • DC 7809 (discoid lupus erythematosus) is one of several skin diagnoses sharing the Skin Conditions hub's own rating formula.
  • DC 6350 governs systemic lupus erythematosus, the disseminated form affecting multiple body systems, not the skin-limited form.
  • The current text states DC 6350 is not to be combined with ratings under DC 7809 -- these are mutually exclusive rating paths for what can be the same underlying disease.
  • See the Skin Conditions hub for discoid lupus erythematosus specifically.

Records to review: Dermatology records distinguishing discoid (skin-limited) from systemic lupus findings.

Evidence

Evidence that may clarify the published criteria

Rheumatology or other specialist treatment records

Treatment records document diagnosis, exacerbation history, and severity over time.

A diagnosis alone does not identify which percentage tier applies.

Exacerbation frequency and duration documentation

The documented number of exacerbations per year, and how long each lasts, is the fact DC 6350's tiers are built on.

A general lupus diagnosis without documented exacerbation frequency cannot be substituted for a measured finding.

Residual findings in other body systems

Records documenting renal, dermatologic, cardiac, hematologic, or neurological residuals may be relevant to the disclosed cross-system comparison Note.

RatingScope does not compute this comparison; it is disclosed as context only.

Personal and firsthand lay evidence

Plain descriptions can explain how lupus exacerbations affect daily functioning.

Lay evidence can describe observed impact, but it should not invent measurements or diagnoses.

Official VA Forms & DBQs

Downloadable DBQs & Supporting Claim Forms

Take the public DBQ to your private physician or review it prior to your C&P examination.

Terminology

Plain-English terms

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

DC 6350 uses a standalone 3-tier table, not the shared General Rating Formula for Infectious Diseases used by most other codes in this CFR section.

The tier depends on how often exacerbations occur, how long they last, and whether they produce severe impairment of health.

Rheumatology treatment records

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Discoid lupus erythematosus

DC 6350 is explicitly not to be combined with DC 7809 ratings -- these are separate, mutually exclusive rating paths.

Do not enter discoid (skin-limited) lupus findings into this hub, or systemic lupus findings into the Skin Conditions hub.

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TDIU

Even if the schedular rating for Systemic Lupus Erythematosus does not reach 100 percent, TDIU may still provide a pathway to compensation at the 100 percent rate, based on unemployability from this and/or other service-connected disabilities combined.

A lower schedular percentage does not by itself foreclose TDIU eligibility -- this hub computes only the schedular percentage for this specific condition and does not determine TDIU eligibility.

Employment history; vocational impact documentation; occupational impairment

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Common Questions

Questions veterans commonly ask

How does VA rate systemic lupus erythematosus?

DC 6350 rates systemic lupus erythematosus across a 3-tier table (100/60/10 percent) driven by exacerbation frequency, duration, and severity -- a standalone table, not the shared General Rating Formula for Infectious Diseases used elsewhere in this CFR section.

What if my residuals under another body system would rate higher?

DC 6350's own Note allows evaluating residuals under the appropriate body system instead, if that comparison results in a higher evaluation. RatingScope does not compute this comparison, since the regulation does not name a fixed, enumerable list of qualifying residual pathways -- it is disclosed here as a genuine alternative rating path.

Is discoid lupus the same as this hub?

No. Discoid lupus erythematosus (DC 7809) is a separate, skin-limited form rated under the Skin Conditions hub. DC 6350's current text states it is not to be combined with DC 7809 ratings.

If my schedular rating for Systemic Lupus Erythematosus is below 100%, can I still be compensated at the 100% rate?

Possibly, through TDIU (Total Disability rating based on Individual Unemployability, 38 CFR 4.16) -- a separate pathway to 100 percent compensation based on unemployability, from this and/or other service-connected disabilities combined, independent of whether the schedular rating itself reaches 100 percent. This hub computes only the schedular percentage and does not determine TDIU eligibility.

What separates the 100% rating from adjacent levels?

The 60% level describes a lower exacerbation frequency (2 or 3 times per year) and does not require the same severe-impairment finding.

What separates the 60% rating from adjacent levels?

The 100% level requires a more severe, frequent, and health-impairing pattern; the 10% level describes a lower frequency (1 to 2 times per year) or a merely symptomatic status.

What separates the 10% rating from adjacent levels?

The 60% level requires a documented weeklong-or-longer exacerbation duration occurring 2 or 3 times per year, a more frequent and sustained pattern than this tier.

Related Conditions

Continue learning through connected topics

Skin Conditions

Discoid lupus erythematosus (DC 7809), a separate skin-limited form, is rated there. DC 6350 is explicitly not to be combined with DC 7809 ratings.

Combined Ratings

If more than one condition is involved, combined-rating math is educational context and does not simply add percentages.

Ready when you are

Compare documented lupus findings

Use exacerbation frequency, duration, and severity language already documented in your records. Do not upload records or enter Social Security numbers, claim numbers, full dates of birth, or other sensitive identifiers. RatingScope does not infer missing findings.

Informational guidance only. RatingScope does not predict, decide, or guarantee VA outcomes.

Compare my lupus records

Learn More

Continue Understanding

RatingScope resource

Skin Conditions guide

Covers discoid lupus erythematosus (DC 7809), a separate, mutually exclusive rating path from this hub's DC 6350.

Open Skin Conditions guide

Secondary conditions

Conditions commonly connected to Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

No commonly documented secondary connections are tracked for Systemic Lupus Erythematosus yet.

Keep going

Related Tools

Compare a percentage level and combined-rating math, or review evidence context.

See all tools

VA Math & Combined Ratings

Understand the whole-person method, final rounding, and bilateral limits, then calculate how percentages combine.

Open VA Math guide

Evidence Center

Understand common evidence categories and what they can clarify without treating them as a checklist.

Open Evidence Center