The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for secondary service connection for his heart disability, including congestive heart failure and valvular heart disease, which is caused by his service-connected hypertension.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner concluded that the Veteran's heart disability was due to poorly controlled hypertension, a condition he had since he was 19 years old.
- Claimed conditions
- heart disability, congestive heart failure, valvular heart disease
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 50%
- Decision date
- January 16, 2026
- Citation
- A26004395
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 A26004395.
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.
- 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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's eligibility for PCAFC benefits is remanded due to the AOJ's failure to address whether it is in the best interest of the Veteran to participate in the program. The Board finds that the Veteran has been in need of personal care services for at least six continuous months based on an inability to perform the ADL of bathing.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the Veteran's death was not caused by or substantially contributed to by any service-connected disability, and thus denied the claim for service connection for cause of death.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the issues of service connection for atrial fibrillation, benign prostatic hypertrophy with outflow obstruction, congestive heart failure, and hypertension due to inadequate VA opinions. The Veteran's exposure during service is conceded to include asbestos and gas chamber exposures.
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