What the Board granted and denied for heart disease

In the Board decisions we have indexed since 2019, veterans raised 19,805 issues about heart disease. Of the ones it decided, the Board granted 41 percent. It sent 43 percent of all these issues back for more work.

Every decision counted here is an appeal. The regional office decided the claim first, the veteran disagreed, and the Board is the next step after that. These are not the odds on a first claim.

Since 2019

545 were reopened for a fresh look, which is not a grant and is not counted as one. 1,244 were dismissed or withdrawn. 199 ended some other way, or we could not read the outcome.

Across every year we have indexed, that is 56,892 issues across 49,271 decisions, 32 percent granted of the ones decided, and 43 percent sent back for more work.

What a remand is

A remand is not a yes or a no. The Board sends the claim back to the regional office for more work, such as a new exam or a record that was not in the file. The claim is decided again later, and that later decision is a separate document.

What showed up in the decisions

Swipe the table sideways to see every column.

These are mentions in the written decision, not reasons for the outcome. A denied issue can mention a doctor's opinion just as a granted one does. Whether the opinion was for or against the claim, and the reasons it gave, are not something these counts can see. Each item is counted for the whole decision, so it may concern another issue decided in the same document.

Claimed together

A pair gets its own page once it appears at least 100 times and the Board decided at least 20 of them. Pairs below that are in the data but have no page.

Claimed as secondary to heart disease

• High blood pressure secondary to heart disease

  Since 2019: 338 issues paired, 25 percent granted of the ones decided

• Sleep apnea secondary to heart disease

  Since 2019: 171 issues paired, 24 percent granted of the ones decided

• Erectile dysfunction secondary to heart disease

  Since 2019: 94 issues paired, 60 percent granted of the ones decided

• Radiculopathy or neuropathy secondary to heart disease

  Since 2019: 106 issues paired, 14 percent granted of the ones decided

• Peripheral artery disease secondary to heart disease

  Since 2019: 75 issues paired, 44 percent granted of the ones decided

• Depression or anxiety secondary to heart disease

  Since 2019: 49 issues paired, 64 percent granted of the ones decided

Heart disease claimed as secondary to something else

• Heart disease secondary to diabetes

  Since 2019: 166 issues paired, 48 percent granted of the ones decided

• Heart disease secondary to PTSD

  Since 2019: 221 issues paired, 38 percent granted of the ones decided

• Heart disease secondary to high blood pressure

  Since 2019: 252 issues paired, 72 percent granted of the ones decided

• Heart disease secondary to depression or anxiety

  Since 2019: 144 issues paired, 53 percent granted of the ones decided

• Heart disease secondary to sleep apnea

  Since 2019: 67 issues paired, 69 percent granted of the ones decided

• Heart disease secondary to COPD

  Since 2019: 37 issues paired, 46 percent granted of the ones decided

Five recent decisions about heart disease

• June 30, 2026Granted

  Entitlement to service connection for a heart condition, to include aortic valve replacement due to bicuspid aortic valve disease and aortic stenosis

  Read the decision at VA.gov
• June 25, 2026Granted

  Entitlement to service connection for cardiovascular disorders, to include coronary artery disease, a coronary artery bypass graft, cardiomyopathy, congestive heart failure, bradycardia, and a myocardial infarction

  Read the decision at VA.gov
• June 24, 2026Granted

  Entitlement to service connection for ischemic heart disease (IHD)

  Read the decision at VA.gov
• June 23, 2026Denied

  Service connection for a heart disorder, to include ischemic heart disease and a heart valve disorder, to include as due to herbicide agent exposure, for purposes of accrued benefits

  Read the decision at VA.gov
• June 23, 2026Denied

  Entitlement to a disability rating in excess of 60 percent for service-connected coronary artery disease (CAD)

  Read the decision at VA.gov

What this means for you

For these conditions the Board reads for the diagnosis first, then the link. A named diagnosis in a treatment record, with the test that supports it, is the floor. A list of symptoms with no diagnosis behind it leaves the Board with nothing to rate. The exception is the Gulf War rule, which also pays for signs and symptoms the tests cannot explain, and it names chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and irritable bowel syndrome as conditions it covers.

The link comes one of three ways. A doctor's opinion that ties the condition to service, or to another service-connected condition, with reasons. A presumption, when the condition and the service fit one of the lists in the rules. Or, when the condition is one the rules list as a chronic disease and it was noted in service, a record of the same symptoms running from service to now.

For a higher rating, the schedule is specific. Each of these conditions has its own list of findings, like blood pressure readings, lab values, or how many attacks a month. Bring the records that show the findings, not just the diagnosis.

Many of these conditions are claimed as secondary to another one. The claim needs a doctor to say the first condition led to the second, or made it worse, and to explain why. The reasons are what the claim rests on.