The Veteran's current atrial fibrillation and aortic valve stenosis are etiologically related to his military service, as he was hospitalized for rheumatic fever in service. After affording the Veteran the benefit of the doubt, the Board finds that these conditions are related to his time in service.
The deciding factor: The November 2015 VA examiner concluded that it is at least as likely as not that the Veteran's atrial fibrillation and aortic valve stenosis were caused by an episode of rheumatic fever during military service, given the Veteran's age at diagnosis and medical studies indicating a link between rheumatic fever and these conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- heart murmurs, rheumatic fever, atriial fibrillation, aortic valve stenosis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 17, 2016
- Citation
- 1610819
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 1610819.
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
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Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
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- Denied
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- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to errors in obtaining relevant private treatment records and VA opinions, which were not sufficient for a decision on service connection.
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