The Board denied service connection for a heart murmur as there was no evidence of a heart murmur in service and no medical evidence relating the current condition to any event or injury during service.
The deciding factor: There is no medical evidence linking the appellant's heart murmur to an in-service event, injury, or disease. The only evidence supporting his claim are lay statements which were found to be insufficient to establish a connection between the in-service period and the current disability.
- Claimed conditions
- Heart murmur, Aortic valve replacement, Coronary bypass grafts
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- March 9, 2009
- Citation
- 0908644
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,677 · Granted: 26% (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 0908644.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
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: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claim for service connection of a cardiac disability due to insufficient evidence and need for clarification on whether the heart murmur is a congenital defect or disease, as well as potential exposure during active service.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran was granted individual unemployability due to service-connected disability (TDIU) on an extraschedular basis from November 19, 2011, to March 7, 2013.
- Whole decision: Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for a heart murmur and a left foot heel spur, but denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a heart condition, to include a heart murmur and hypertension, due to incomplete evidence regarding the nature of the Veteran's heart murmur and potential service connection.
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