The Board has denied the service connection claim for a heart disability other than coronary artery disease, finding that there is not sufficient evidence to establish a causal relationship between these conditions and the Veteran's service or any service-connected condition.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner determined that there was no evidence of symptoms or manifestations of cardiomyopathy, symptomatic bradycardia corrected by pacemaker, or benign hypertensive heart disease in the Veteran's service treatment records (STRs) or within proximity to service. The examiner also found that these disabilities have different pathophysiologies and are not proximately caused or aggravated by service-connected coronary artery disease.
- Claimed conditions
- cardiomyopathy, symptomatic bradycardia corrected by pacemaker, benign hypertensive heart disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 100%
- Decision date
- March 11, 2022
- Citation
- 22014169
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 22014169.
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.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for a heart disability, finding that it is secondary to the Veteran's service-connected PTSD.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for the Veteran's heart condition, finding that it is secondary to his service-connected PTSD.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for hypertension and benign hypertensive heart disease, finding that both conditions began during service and are related to the Veteran's hypertension.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for cardiomyopathy and hypertension due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error in the April 2025 rating decision. The issues are being remanded for further development, including obtaining an addendum opinion from an appropriate clinician.
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