The Veteran's additional cardiovascular disability, including aortic aneurysm and decreased stamina, is not considered to be the result of VA care or lack thereof during his heart valve replacement surgery in 2005. The Board finds that there is no evidence supporting the claim.
The deciding factor: VA treatment records do not show any fault on the part of VA personnel related to the Veteran's current condition, and the medical opinions indicate that the Veteran's decline in stamina is more likely due to other factors such as cardiovascular deconditioning, weight gain, history of smoking, and aging process.
- Claimed conditions
- aortic aneurysm, decreased stamina
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 15, 2016
- Citation
- 1636118
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 1636118.
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 denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for aortic aneurysm secondary to his service-connected hypertension, squamous cell cancer of the skin, and benign prostatic hyperplasia. The issues of entitlement to compensable ratings for hypertension and colon cancer residuals are also remanded due to potential impact on the issue of a 10 percent evaluation based on multiple noncompensable service-connected disabilities.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for an effective date of March 3, 2022, for the award of service connection for aortic aneurysm is granted. The rating assigned remains at 60 percent.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection due to a duty-to-assist error regarding the Veteran's exposure to asbestos and Agent Orange during service. The claims are now pending for further development.
- Granted
The Veteran's hypertension is granted as presumptively related to his in-service exposure to herbicide agents (Agent Orange). The aortic aneurysm, which is secondary to the service-connected hypertension, is also granted.
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