VA Disability Rating for Brain Embolism / Stroke (DC 8007)
Diagnostic Code 8007 · 38 CFR §4.124a
What Is It?
DC 8007 is printed in the schedule as "Brain, vessels, embolism of." An embolic stroke happens when clot or debris forms elsewhere in the body — most often in the left atrium during atrial fibrillation, or on a diseased heart valve — travels through the circulation, and lodges in a brain artery. The deficit depends on which territory is lost: hemiparesis, aphasia, visual field loss, dysphagia, and cognitive impairment are the common ones. For veterans the usual path to service connection is secondary, through a service-connected cardiac condition. Worth knowing about the presumptive route: 38 CFR §3.309(a) lists "Brain hemorrhage" and "Brain thrombosis" among the chronic diseases but does not list embolism, so the one-year presumptive under §3.307(a)(3) reaches DC 8009 and DC 8008 but not this code — an embolic stroke is service-connected directly or as secondary to the heart condition that threw the clot. 38 CFR §4.124a opens the neurological schedule with a bracketed instruction: disability from the diseases it lists "may be rated from 10 percent to 100 percent in proportion to the impairment of motor, sensory, or mental function," referring the rater to the appropriate body system of the schedule for each manifestation. Inside the 8000–8025 block the schedule prints either a single flat percentage, a single minimum rating, or no percentage at all — there is no severity ladder anywhere in it. A Note closing the block adds two conditions: the minimum ratings for residuals require ascertainable residuals, and when a rating above the minimum is assigned, the diagnostic codes used as the basis of that evaluation must be cited alongside the code identifying the diagnosis. DC 8007 has an empty rating cell of its own; the figures come from the shared instruction printed under DC 8009: 100 percent for six months, then residuals with a minimum of 10.
Rating Criteria
| Rating | Criteria |
|---|---|
| 100% | Rate the vascular conditions under Codes 8007 through 8009, for 6 months. The schedule assigns 100 percent for six months from the vascular event itself, across all three brain-vessel codes together. It is a fixed period tied to the event, not a severity tier — when it ends, the evaluation moves to the residuals below. |
| 10% | Rate residuals, thereafter, minimum. After the six-month period the evaluation is made on the residuals, with 10 percent as the floor. The schedule prints no steps between 10 and 100 for these codes. §4.124a's preamble and §4.120 both govern what happens above the floor: disability in this field is rated in proportion to the impairment of motor, sensory, or mental function, with partial loss of use of one or more extremities from a neurological lesion rated by comparison with the mild, moderate, severe, or complete paralysis of the relevant peripheral nerves. The Note closing the 8000–8025 block requires ascertainable residuals for the minimum and requires that any rating above it cite the diagnostic codes used as its basis. |
Evidence Needed
Brain imaging showing the infarct and its territory establishes the event. The cardiac workup is what makes the claim: an echocardiogram, extended rhythm monitoring, and any documentation of atrial fibrillation, valve disease, or cardiomyopathy identify the embolic source and connect it to the service-connected condition. Because the percentage after six months is built from the residuals, the evidence that sets it is the deficit workup — strength and tone by extremity and nerve distribution, formal visual field testing, a speech-language evaluation for aphasia or dysarthria, a swallowing study if there is dysphagia, and neuropsychological testing for cognitive change. Anticoagulation records and any subsequent strokes or transient ischemic attacks round out the picture.
C&P Exam Tips
Lay out the chain plainly: the service-connected heart condition, the clot it produced, and the stroke that followed. Demonstrate the physical deficits rather than working around them, and give concrete examples of the cognitive ones instead of general statements. Bring the neuropsychological testing, the visual field study, and the speech and swallowing evaluations, and ask that each deficit be documented under its own code — that is what the decision has to cite for any evaluation above the 10 percent floor. Report every subsequent event, including transient ischemic attacks, and describe what anticoagulation requires of you day to day. If you need help with dressing, bathing, or medication management, request a special monthly compensation evaluation.
How to File
File VA Form 21-526EZ claiming cerebral embolism under DC 8007 and cite 38 CFR §4.124a. Where the embolic source is a service-connected heart condition, file the stroke as secondary to it and attach the cardiac evidence identifying the source alongside the brain imaging. Claim each residual by name — the weakness by limb, the aphasia, the visual field loss, the dysphagia, the cognitive impairment — because those are the codes any evaluation above the floor has to be built from and cited under. If the heart condition is not yet service-connected, claim it too. Request an SMC evaluation where the residuals justify it.
Common Mistakes
Reading 10 / 30 / 60 / 100 as a severity ladder. The schedule prints a six-month 100 percent and a 10 percent floor for residuals, and nothing in between; everything above the floor is built from the codes for the individual deficits. Claiming "stroke" as one thing and letting the rater guess at the deficits, instead of documenting hemiparesis, aphasia, visual field loss, dysphagia, and cognitive impairment each in its own terms. Skipping neuropsychological testing. Not claiming the underlying service-connected condition that caused the event. Not asking that the decision cite the codes used as the basis of evaluation, which the Note closing the 8000-8025 block requires.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between DC 8007, 8008, and 8009?
The schedule prints them as three separate vessel events: 8007 is "Brain, vessels, embolism of," 8008 is "Brain, vessels, thrombosis of," and 8009 is "Brain, vessels, hemorrhage from." An embolus forms elsewhere and travels; a thrombosis forms in the brain vessel itself; a hemorrhage is a rupture and bleeding. All three take the same figures — the instruction printed under 8009 reads "Rate the vascular conditions under Codes 8007 through 8009, for 6 months — 100," followed by "Rate residuals, thereafter, minimum — 10." Where they differ is service connection: §3.309(a)'s chronic-disease list names brain hemorrhage and brain thrombosis, but not embolism.
Is there a 30 or 60 percent rating for an embolic stroke?
Not as a printed tier. DC 8007 has an empty rating cell of its own, and the shared instruction gives it exactly two figures: 100 percent for six months from the event, and a 10 percent minimum for residuals thereafter. Veterans routinely end up well above 10 — hemiparesis alone often carries more — but that percentage is built in proportion to the impairment of motor, sensory, or mental function under the codes for the specific deficits, and the Note closing the 8000-8025 block requires the decision to cite those codes.
Can I claim a stroke that happened years after service?
Yes, when a service-connected condition caused it. The common route for an embolic stroke is secondary service connection through a service-connected cardiac condition — atrial fibrillation, valve disease, or cardiomyopathy that threw the clot. What the claim needs is the cardiac evidence identifying the source and a medical opinion linking it. Note that the one-year chronic-disease presumptive in §3.309(a) covers brain hemorrhage and brain thrombosis but not embolism, so this code depends on the direct or secondary path rather than on a presumption.