The Board denied service connection for restrictive pericarditis, finding no evidence of a direct or secondary relationship to the Veteran's military service or his service-connected diabetes and ischemic heart disease.
The deciding factor: The VA examiners found that there was no medical literature supporting a link between herbicide exposure and pericarditis, and that the Veteran's pericarditis was likely viral in nature. Additionally, there was no evidence of aggravation by his service-connected conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- restrictive pericarditis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- June 2, 2025
- Citation
- 25007433
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,446 · Granted: 21% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 25007433.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to insufficient medical opinions and incomplete development regarding service connection for restrictive pericarditis, status post-pericardiectomy. The Veteran's representative has also raised a new theory of entitlement based on asbestos exposure in service.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claim of service connection for restrictive pericarditis, status post-pericardiectomy on a secondary basis to obtain an addendum opinion regarding whether it is at least as likely as not caused or aggravated by the Veteran's service-connected PTSD.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for his service-connected coronary artery disease, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on the severity of his condition.
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