The Board has determined that a remand is necessary to obtain a VA examination and opinion regarding the Veteran's claimed cardiomegaly and mitral valve disease, as well as to determine if service connection can be established on a direct basis.
The deciding factor: The claim cannot be decided without obtaining an updated medical opinion regarding the etiology of the Veteran's heart disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- cardiomegaly, mitral valve disease
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 12, 2017
- Citation
- 1738232
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 1738232.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- 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 for a new VA examination to determine the current nature and severity of his service-connected coronary artery disease (CAD), status post myocardial infarction and coronary artery bypass graft (CABG), with cardiomegaly, and valvular heart disease. The examiner must address the impact of medication on the Veteran's disability.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to incomplete VA medical opinion and insufficient consideration of the Veteran's contentions. The Veteran is seeking service connection for a heart condition, which he claims was aggravated by his military service.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings and earlier effective dates, as well as a TDIU.
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