Specific code 2015 ICD-9-CM Diagnosis Code 378.9
Unspecified disorder of eye movements
  • 2015
  • Billable Thru Sept 30/2015
  • Non-Billable On/After Oct 1/2015

  • ICD-9-CM 378.9 is a billable medical code that can be used to indicate a diagnosis on a reimbursement claim, however, 378.9 should only be used for claims with a date of service on or before September 30, 2015. For claims with a date of service on or after October 1, 2015, use an equivalent ICD-10-CM code (or codes).
Convert to ICD-10-CM: 378.9 converts approximately to:
  • 2015/16 ICD-10-CM H51.9 Unspecified disorder of binocular movement
Approximate Synonyms
  • A pattern strabismus
  • Disorder of eye movements
  • Eye movement disorder
  • Eye movements, A pattern deviation
  • Eye movements, V pattern deviation
  • Eye movements, X pattern deviation
  • Ocular paresis
  • Paresis of extraocular muscles
  • Restrictive strabismus
  • Strabismus
  • Strabismus (eye condition
  • Strabismus (eye condition)
  • Strabismus, A pattern deviation
  • Strabismus, V pattern deviation
  • Strabismus, X pattern deviation
  • V-pattern strabismus
  • X pattern strabismus
Clinical Information
  • Disorders that feature impairment of eye movements as a primary manifestation of disease. These conditions may be divided into infranuclear, nuclear, and supranuclear disorders. Diseases of the eye muscles or oculomotor cranial nerves (iii, iv, and vi) are considered infranuclear. Nuclear disorders are caused by disease of the oculomotor, trochlear, or abducens nuclei in the brain stem. Supranuclear disorders are produced by dysfunction of higher order sensory and motor systems that control eye movements, including neural networks in the cerebral cortex; basal ganglia; cerebellum; and brain stem. Ocular torticollis refers to a head tilt that is caused by an ocular misalignment. Opsoclonus refers to rapid, conjugate oscillations of the eyes in multiple directions, which may occur as a parainfectious or paraneoplastic condition (e.g., opsoclonus-myoclonus syndrome). (Adams et al., Principles of Neurology, 6th ed, p240)
  • Pathologic process affecting the voluntary or reflex-controlled movements of the eye
  • When you look at an object, you're using several muscles to move both eyes to focus on it. If you have a problem with the muscles, the eyes don't work properly.there are many kinds of eye movement disorders. Two common ones are:
    • strabismus - a disorder in which the two eyes don't line up in the same direction. This results in "crossed eyes" or "walleye."
    • nystagmus - fast, uncontrollable movements of the eyes, sometimes called "dancing eyes"
    some eye movement disorders are present at birth. Others develop over time and may be associated with other problems, such as injuries. Treatments include glasses, eye muscle exercises, and surgery. There is no treatment for some kinds of eye movement disorders, such as most kinds of nystagmus
Applies To
  • Ophthalmoplegia NOS
  • Strabismus NOS
ICD-9-CM Volume 2 Index entries containing back-references to 378.9:
  • Contraction, contracture, contracted
    • muscle (postinfectional) (postural) NEC 728.85
    • ocular muscle (see also Strabismus) 378.9
      • paralytic (see also Strabismus, paralytic) 378.50
  • Disease, diseased - see also Syndrome
  • Imbalance 781.2
    • eye muscle NEC 378.9
      • heterophoria - see Heterophoria
  • Insufficiency, insufficient
    • muscle
      • heart - see Insufficiency, myocardial
      • ocular (see also Strabismus) 378.9
  • Ophthalmoplegia (see also Strabismus) 378.9
    • ataxia-areflexia syndrome 357.0
    • bilateral 378.9
    • internal (complete) (total) 367.52
    • supranuclear, progressive 333.0
    • unilateral 378.9
  • Overactive - see also Hyperfunction
    • eye muscle (see also Strabismus) 378.9
  • Paralysis, paralytic (complete) (incomplete) 344.9
    • ocular 378.9
  • Squint (see also Strabismus) 378.9
    • accommodative (see also Esotropia) 378.00
    • concomitant (see also Heterotropia) 378.30
  • Strabismus (alternating) (congenital) (nonparalytic) 378.9
    • concomitant (see also Heterotropia) 378.30
      • convergent (see also Esotropia) 378.00
      • divergent (see also Exotropia) 378.10
    • convergent (see also Esotropia) 378.00
    • divergent (see also Exotropia) 378.10
    • due to adhesions, scars - see Strabismus, mechanical
    • mechanical 378.60
      • due to
        • Brown's tendon sheath syndrome 378.61
        • specified musculofascial disorder NEC 378.62
ICD-9-CM codes are used in medical billing and coding to describe diseases, injuries, symptoms and conditions. ICD-9-CM 378.9 is one of thousands of ICD-9-CM codes used in healthcare. Although ICD-9-CM and CPT codes are largely numeric, they differ in that CPT codes describe medical procedures and services. Can't find a code? Start at the root of ICD-9-CM, check the 2015 ICD-9-CM Index or use the search engine at the top of this page to lookup any code.