The Board has remanded the claims for a heart disability, PTSD, and TDIU due to service-connected disabilities. The VA is required to obtain an addendum opinion regarding the nature and etiology of the Veteran's heart disability, including whether it was related to service or service-connected diabetes mellitus type II.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the current opinions were inadequate for a decision on the claims and ordered additional medical opinions to address the relationship between the Veteran’s diagnosed heart conditions and his service and service-connected disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- valvular heart disease, implanted cardiac pacemaker, pulmonary hypertension
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 11, 2021
- Citation
- 21008189
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 21008189.
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.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for valvular heart disease, peripheral vascular disease of the right and left legs, and hypertension were denied. The Board found that the evidence did not support higher ratings under the applicable rating criteria.
- 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 due to the need for clarification on whether his valvular heart disease is related to his service-connected supraventricular tachycardia, and because the TDIU claim is intertwined with the increased rating claim.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal of service connection for valvular heart disease has been withdrawn, resulting in the dismissal of this issue.
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