The Board found that the preponderance of evidence is against a finding that the veteran's valvular heart disease and endocarditis are attributable to service or a service-connected disability, including as secondary to his right ear fungal infection.
The deciding factor: VA medical opinions were provided which specifically refute a relationship between post-service heart disabilities and either service or a service-connected disability, while VA medical opinions supporting the veteran's claims were not provided.
- Claimed conditions
- valvular heart disease, endocarditis
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 5, 2007
- Citation
- 0731709
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 0731709.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for valvular heart disease, peripheral vascular disease of the right and left legs, and hypertension were denied. The Board found that the evidence did not support higher ratings under the applicable rating criteria.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for an initial rating higher than 30 percent for cardiomegaly with cardiac hypertrophy and valvular heart disease has been dismissed due to the appellant withdrawing the appeal.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is remanded due to the need for clarification on whether his valvular heart disease is related to his service-connected supraventricular tachycardia, and because the TDIU claim is intertwined with the increased rating claim.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to a duty-to-assist error, specifically failing to obtain a medical opinion regarding whether the Veteran's valvular heart disease and coronary artery calcification is caused or aggravated by his service-connected hypertension.
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