The Board has determined that the Veteran's altered gait, caused by his service-connected right and left knee conditions, significantly aggravated his pre-existing lumbar spine condition. As a result, the Board granted service connection for the lumbar spine disability.
The deciding factor: The expert medical opinion concluded that it is more likely than not that the Veteran’s altered gait created more symptoms in his pre-existing arthritic problems of the lumbar spine.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative disc disease (DDD) of the lumbar spine
- How they argued it
- Aggravation of a pre-existing condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 23, 2018
- Citation
- 18120180
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 18120180.
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
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for earlier effective dates for service connection for bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy were denied. The Board found that no claim was received prior to July 15, 2021 and thus the proper effective date is July 15, 2021.,The Veteran also sought an earlier effective date for his left lower extremity radiculopathy, which was similarly denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for an increased rating for his service-connected degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine is remanded due to concerns about the adequacy of a previous examination report, which did not include measurements using a goniometer.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to a procedural error in failing to provide the Veteran with notice of a scheduled hearing. The Veteran must be provided with a hearing before the matter can be reconsidered.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the issue of entitlement to a Total Disability Rating Based on Individual Unemployability (TDIU) was not before it in its August 2024 decision. The case is now remanded for further adjudication.
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