Dysphasia

This code describes a speech disorder characterized by impaired comprehension or expression of language, resulting from brain damage. It affects the ability to formulate, understand, or produce spoken language, often manifesting as difficulty finding words, constructing sentences, or interpreting others' speech.

Use this code when documentation specifies dysphasia without an underlying cerebrovascular event as the cause. This diagnosis is appropriate for patients presenting with language difficulties due to conditions like brain tumors, traumatic brain injury, or neurodegenerative diseases, provided the etiology is not a stroke.

• Ensure documentation clearly states dysphasia and not aphasia, as these terms are often used interchangeably but have distinct ICD-10-CM codes.
• Verify the etiology of the dysphasia; if it follows a cerebrovascular disease, an I69. code with appropriate final characters should be used instead.
• Do not code this with I69. codes as per the Excludes1 note.