The Board has determined that the veteran's thoracic spine disability warrants a 20 percent rating, reflecting severe limitation of motion and functional impairment comparable to favorable ankylosis.
The deciding factor: The VA examination findings demonstrated significant residuals from the veteran's back injury in 1985, including chronic thoracic spine strain with restricted movement and pain on flexion and extension.
- Claimed conditions
- Thoracic spine disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 20%
- Decision date
- February 17, 2000
- Citation
- 0004295
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 0004295.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for a thoracic spine disability but denied it for a lumbar spine disability, claimed as displacement of the lumbar disc with degenerative disc disease and intervertebral disc syndrome.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss, dismissed the claim for a thoracic spine disability, and granted service connection for right knee strain, left knee strain and meniscal tear, left hip strain as secondary to a service-connected thoracolumbar lumbar spine disorder, and a generalized anxiety disorder and other specified depressive disorder.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for lumbar and thoracic spine disabilities due to a lack of adequate medical evidence linking these conditions to service or a service-connected disability.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for chronic fatigue syndrome and a thoracic spine disability, as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected cervical spine disability. The claims for an initial compensable rating for allergic rhinitis and for service connection for sinusitis were denied.
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