The Board has denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for an aortic disorder to include bicuspid aortic valve, aneurysm, and deteriorating valve secondary to his service-connected sleep apnea due to lack of evidence showing that these conditions are proximately due to or aggravated by his service-connected condition.
The deciding factor: The Board found no medical opinion linking the Veteran's current aortic disorders to his service-connected sleep apnea.
- Claimed conditions
- aortic aneurysm, bicuspid aortic valve, aneurysm, deteriorating valve
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 18, 2020
- Citation
- 20074161
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for diabetes mellitus, valvular heart disease (chest pain and cardiac valve stenosis), aortic aneurysm, and hypertension as these conditions were not found to be etiologically related to the Veteran's active duty service.
- Granted
The Board granted an effective date of November 15, 2022 for the award of service connection for aortic aneurysm as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected hypertension.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection for aortic aneurysm, finding no evidence of a causal relationship between the condition and his active-duty service. The claim for COPD was remanded for further development.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for aortic aneurysm, finding that it is at least as likely as not due to the Veteran's service-connected hypertension.
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