Type 1 diabetes mellitus with diabetic cataract

This code signifies the presence of Type 1 diabetes mellitus complicated by the development of a diabetic cataract. It indicates that the patient's hyperglycemia, characteristic of Type 1 diabetes, has led to lens opacification in the eye.

This code is appropriate when a patient with an established diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes is also diagnosed with a cataract explicitly attributed to their diabetic condition. Documentation should clearly link the cataract to the diabetes, often through physician statements such as "diabetic cataract" or "cataract secondary to Type 1 DM."

• Always sequence the diabetes code first, as it is the underlying systemic condition causing the cataract.
• Do not use this code for cataracts unrelated to diabetes or for cataracts in patients with other types of diabetes (e.g., Type 2).
• Ensure the medical record explicitly states the cataract is "diabetic" or "due to diabetes" to support this specific code.