The Veteran's bilateral thumb disorder, including CTS, is not related to his military service and the Board finds that there is no etiological relationship between any current thumb disorders and his active duty.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner opined that the Veteran's CTS is most likely due to a congenital predisposition - the carpal tunnel is simply smaller in some people than others, and there were no additional thumb conditions found during service.
- Claimed conditions
- CTS
- How they argued it
- Aggravation of a pre-existing condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 5, 2014
- Citation
- 1434804
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 1434804.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the claim of service connection for carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) as claimed as a right wrist condition due to its association with a service-connected left wrist and hand condition. The decision is based on inadequate opinions provided in previous VA examinations.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for PVD, DMII, and CTS as the Veteran failed to report for scheduled VA examinations without good cause.,TDIU was also denied as the Veteran did not attend a scheduled VA examination without showing good cause.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for numbness of the bilateral upper extremities, to include CTS, as secondary to his service-connected right shoulder disability due to lack of in-service injury or disease and conflicting medical opinions.
- Denied
The Board denied higher ratings for De Quervain's disease of the wrists and bilateral CTS, finding that there was no evidence of ankylosis or more severe impairment at any point during the period under review.
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