Board decisions

What the Board granted and denied for heart disease

By Hector K, Air Force veteranUpdated September 2026 from 1,501,587 Board decisions

In the Board decisions we have indexed since 2019, veterans raised 20,871 issues about heart disease. Of the ones it decided, the Board granted 40 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

3,948granted
5,813denied
8,997sent back
40 percentgranted, of the ones decided

582 were reopened for a fresh look, which is not a grant and is not counted as one. 1,312 were dismissed or withdrawn. 219 ended some other way, or we could not read the outcome.

Across every year we have indexed, that is 57,958 issues across 50,141 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.

Share of issues whose written decision mentions each item, by outcome, across every year we have indexed
What the decision mentionsGranted8,873 issuesDenied18,997 issues
A medical opinion, or the words nexus or at least as likely as not, anywhere in the decision69 percent72 percent
A hearing was held (the veteran or a witness testified)44 percent33 percent
The words lay statement, buddy statement, or lay evidence43 percent54 percent
The decision calls an exam or medical opinion inadequate6 percent5 percent

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 60 times and the Board decided at least 15 of them. Pairs below that are in the data but have no page. A page states a percentage only once the Board has decided 20 of them. Below that it shows how many were decided and no percentage, because a rate on a handful of decisions reads as precision it does not have.

Claimed as secondary to heart disease

Heart disease claimed as secondary to something else

Five recent decisions about heart disease

A past Board decision binds only the case it decided, and the Board decides each case on its own facts. Another veteran's decision is not evidence about your condition. Read these to see what evidence the Board weighed, so you know what to gather for your own claim.

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.

The Heart Pack

Everything the Board has decided about heart disease, in one file. How the VA rates it, what gets claimed with it and how often each one was granted, and the decisions to read yourself. No account and nothing to fill in.

See what is in it

$15, one time. Add as many conditions as you need and pay once.

Keep reading

Board decisions by condition

Every condition family and the secondary pairs that appeared most, counted from 1,501,587 Board decisions.

How to Read a Board of Veterans' Appeals Decision

Where VA Board decisions live and how to read one in ten minutes, using a real back case.

Lay Evidence and Buddy Statements That Hold Up at the Board

Who can write a statement for you, what they can say, and how the VA weighs it, with prompts for knee, back, sleep apnea, and PTSD.

Sources

An issue is counted in a family by its diagnostic code or by the words in the issue. One issue can be counted in more than one family. Percent granted is of the ones the Board decided, so remands and dismissals are left out. The example decisions are recent ones we could link whose issue names this condition, chosen so that both outcomes are shown when we have them. Reopened claims and effective-date disputes are left out. Past decisions do not predict yours. Each page states the decisions from 2019 on, and says so, unless the Board decided too few of them since 2019 to give a percentage worth reading. Where that happens the page counts every year instead and tells you it has. This page is education, not legal advice. Rules quoted are from 38 CFR Parts 3 and 4, as published on the government's eCFR website. Board decisions are public records, linked at their source.