The Board granted an initial 60 percent evaluation for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, implanted cardiac pacemaker, valvular heart disease, hypertensive heart disease, and atrial fibrillation associated with herbicide exposure. The effective date was set to August 18, 2022.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's heart disabilities more nearly approximate the criteria for a 60 percent rating due to symptoms of breathlessness, fatigue, and palpitations at a workload of greater than 3 METs but not greater than 5 METs throughout the appeal period.
- Claimed conditions
- Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, Implanted cardiac pacemaker, Valvular heart disease, Hypertensive heart disease, Atrial fibrillation
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 60%
- Decision date
- November 6, 2024
- Citation
- A24072519
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for congestive heart failure with implanted pacemaker, bradycardia, valvular heart disease, and atrial fibrillation, secondary to the Veteran's service-connected hypertension.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for arteriosclerotic heart disease (CAD) with bypass graft as secondary to type II diabetes mellitus, and granted a 20 percent disability rating from July 15, 2021 through February 15, 2023 for certain diabetic neuropathies, while denying earlier effective dates and increased ratings for other conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matter of entitlement to service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death due to a lack of sufficient evidence addressing all contentions.
- Partly granted
The Board denied a rating higher than 60 percent for the Veteran's heart disabilities and granted service connection for major vascular neurocognitive disorder, but denied special monthly compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1114(l).
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