Wiki Is there a difference between chronic & recurrent

[gkleach]

I was wondering if someone could tell me if a doctor says a condition is chronic, but the code book only says recurrent, can we use the recurrent code since it means the same thing according to the dictionary?
I was told that if it doesn't say the actual word "recurrent" then you have to use a single episode.
example: Major Depressive Disorder (296.20) vs (296.30)