The Veteran's valvular heart disease is remanded due to the PACT Act, and a VA examination is needed to determine its relationship to his service-connected TERA participation. The examiner must also assess whether the Veteran had a heart murmur at the time of his separation.
The deciding factor: The decision is based on the need for a VA examination pursuant to the PACT Act due to the Veteran's Gulf War service and potential exposure risk activities.
- Claimed conditions
- valvular heart disease
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Gulf War
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 6, 2024
- Citation
- A24029549
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 A24029549.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to a duty-to-assist error, specifically failing to obtain a medical opinion regarding whether the Veteran's valvular heart disease and coronary artery calcification is caused or aggravated by his service-connected hypertension.
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