Husband died from coronary artery disease

Question:

My husband served in Vietnam in 1971-1972 in combat. At age 45, he suffered Cardiac Arrest, but was resuscitated. He had a pacemaker implanted. His angiograms all have showed mild Coronary Artery Disease with atherosclerosis. He suffered from hypertension, Cardiomyopathy, Ventricular Arrhythmia, and he died suddenly of Ventricular Fibrillation followed by death. I submitted a claim to VA and was just denied. The statement of no ischemic heart disease. Two of his Cardiologist wrote letters stating most likely his condition was caused by Agent Orange because there was no other explanation for the advancement of his disease. He received aggressive medical management. How can I make VA realize that Coronary Artery Disease and Ischemic Heart Disease are the same condition ?

Jim's Reply:

You will need a definitive statement that he had coronary artery disease. It's that simple. Once that diagnosis has been established the rest will fall into place as secondary conditions. It sounds as if you believe that has been done but I'm not convinced that it's been done the way VA needs to hear it. The statement from a physician must read something definitive like, "The veteran patient was diagnosed with coronary artery disease by angiogram with a cardiac output of less than 50%" or something similar to that.

VA does understand that coronary artery disease is the same as ischemic heart disease and the cardiac output is the determining factor for a rating. 

I'm not sure where your claim went awry or why that happened but it sounds easy enough to resolve on appeal.