The Board has determined that the veteran's death was caused by a heart disorder that originated during service, and therefore grants service connection for the cause of the veteran's death.
The deciding factor: The veteran developed hypertension in service which eventually led to left ventricular hypertrophy and contributed to his demise due to a sickle cell crisis.
- Claimed conditions
- Hypertensive heart disease, Left ventricular hypertrophy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 12, 2003
- Citation
- 0320002
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 0320002.
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 arteriosclerotic heart disease (CAD) with bypass graft as secondary to type II diabetes mellitus, and granted a 20 percent disability rating from July 15, 2021 through February 15, 2023 for certain diabetic neuropathies, while denying earlier effective dates and increased ratings for other conditions.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, and OSA but denied service connection for hypertension, hypertensive heart disease, right hip pain (secondary to knee disabilities), left ankle disability, and right ankle disability.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance, Parkinson's like symptoms, and hypertensive heart disease to correct duty to assist errors.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board granted a motion to vacate its May 2021 decision and dismissed the claims for service connection due to the Veteran's death before the appeal was properly substituted.
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