The Board has granted a 100 percent evaluation for the service connected left pleural cavity injury, which requires outpatient oxygen therapy.
The deciding factor: Recent pulmonary function testing showed a DLCO of less than 40 percent of predicted value and required home oxygen therapy.
- Claimed conditions
- pleural cavity injury
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- April 8, 2003
- Citation
- 0306698
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,514 · Granted: 19% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 0306698.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board allowed the benefit or issue identified in this decision. Review the original order: other issues in the same appeal may have a different outcome, and this decision does not predict another claim.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran's TDIU was granted from April 17, 2006 due to service-connected PTSD and other disabilities meeting the schedular requirements for a TDIU. The effective date of December 31, 2009 is incorrect as evidence shows unemployability prior to that date.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for further development, including obtaining VA and private treatment records, scheduling a VA examination, and adjudicating the claims of service connection for a rib disability other than rib resection of the 10th posterior rib (to include additional rib removal) and a psychiatric disability (to include PTSD).
- Whole decision: Denied
The VA has denied a rating in excess of 20 percent for the Veteran's pleural cavity injury secondary to a shell fragment wound and spontaneous pneumothorax, as his symptoms do not meet or approximate the criteria for a higher disability rating.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, singly or in combination, do not preclude him from obtaining or maintaining any form of substantially gainful employment.
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