The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for a heart disability, finding that his ASD and its residuals are congenital defects not subject to superimposed disease or injury related to service. The Board also found no current disability other than ASD and its residuals.
The deciding factor: The preponderance of evidence reflects that the Veteran’s ASD is a congenital defect and was not subject to a superimposed disease or injury, thus preventing service connection for any resultant disabilities such as atrial fibrillation, sinus bradycardia, and left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH).
- Claimed conditions
- Atrial septal defect (ASD), Sinus bradycardia, Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 24, 2019
- Citation
- 19105325
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,549 · Granted: 29% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 19105325.
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.
- Dismissed
The appeal for service connection for sinus bradycardia is dismissed. The Board has remanded the claims for an acquired psychiatric disorder to include PTSD and bilateral hearing loss.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for hypertension, diabetes mellitus type II, a renal disability, left ventricular hypertrophy, and right lower extremity paralysis, as well as an earlier effective date of March 15, 2018. Special monthly compensation at the aid and attendance rate was also granted.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for sinus bradycardia to obtain an addendum medical opinion addressing direct service connection and secondary service connection.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the issues of entitlement to increased ratings for heart, left knee scar, hearing loss, right finger, granuloma, and lipoma disabilities due to the Veteran's withdrawal.
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