Body system: Cardiovascular SystemRegulation: 38 CFR § 4.104DBQ: DBQ CARDIO Artery & Veins
Raynaud's syndrome is a condition where your fingers and toes lose blood flow when exposed to cold or stress, causing them to turn white, blue, or red and feel numb or painful. The VA rates this condition from 10% to 100% based on how often you have these episodes (called 'characteristic attacks') and whether you develop serious complications like open sores (ulcers) or lose parts of your fingers or toes. Higher ratings are reserved for severe cases with tissue damage and finger/toe loss, while lower ratings focus on the frequency of your cold-triggered episodes.
Rating levels
- 100% — You must have open sores on two or more fingers or toes (digital ulcers), plus you've lost at least one finger or toe due to the condition cutting off blood flow so severely that the digit died and fell off naturally (auto-amputation), and you have a documented history of the typical Raynaud's attacks where your fingers and toes turn white, blue, or red and become numb or painful when exposed to cold or stress.
- 60% — To qualify for this rating, you must have two or more open sores on your fingers or toes (digital ulcers) and a documented history of typical Raynaud's attacks. These attacks involve your fingers and toes turning white, blue, or red and becoming numb, cold, or painful when exposed to cold temperatures or stress.
- 40% — Your fingers and toes experience the characteristic color changes and numbness of Raynaud's syndrome (where blood vessels suddenly narrow, causing skin to turn white, blue, or red) every single day or nearly every day. These episodes happen regularly and frequently, significantly impacting your daily activities and quality of life.
- 20% — You need to experience the typical Raynaud's attacks (episodes where your fingers or toes turn white, blue, or red and feel cold, numb, or painful due to blood vessel spasms) happening 4 to 6 times per week. These attacks must show the characteristic pattern of color changes and symptoms that define Raynaud's syndrome.
- 10% — You need to have the typical Raynaud's attacks (episodes where your fingers and toes turn white, blue, or red and feel numb or painful due to poor blood flow, usually triggered by cold or stress) happening one to three times per week. The attacks must show the characteristic pattern of color changes and symptoms that define Raynaud's syndrome.
- Note — A characteristic attack, counted in the levels above, is a sequence of color changes in the fingers or toes of one or more limbs, lasting minutes to hours, sometimes with pain and tingling, set off by cold or by emotional upset. The levels above rate Raynaud's syndrome as a whole: one rating, no matter how many arms or legs are involved or whether the nose and ears are affected.
- Note — This code is for secondary Raynaud's (Raynaud's syndrome). Primary Raynaud's disease is rated under DC 7124.