What is the VA rating for Heart Conditions?

DC 7000/7001/7002 (valvular/rheumatic heart disease, endocarditis, pericarditis), 7005 (arteriosclerotic heart disease/CAD), 7006 (myocardial infarction), 7007 (hypertensive heart disease), 7009 (bradycardia/pacemaker), 7011 (ventricular arrhythmias), 7015 (benign atrioventricular block), 7016 (heart valve replacement), 7017 (coronary bypass surgery), 7019 (cardiac transplantation), and 7020 (cardiomyopathy) all use the textually identical METs-based General Rating Formula for Diseases of the Heart once any temporary (or, for DC 7011, indefinite) window period has passed.

• The 100/60/30/10 percent tier language is word-for-word identical across these labels -- RatingScope's evaluateHeartSharedMetsTier function is written once and reused via label dispatch, never hand-copied.
• This does not mean the underlying diagnoses are medically interchangeable -- it means VA rates their long-term severity the same way once a temporary window (if any) has passed.
• DC 7010 (supraventricular tachycardia) is the one major exception -- its own 2-tier ladder never touches this shared formula at all.

Records to review: Heart Conditions DBQ; exercise stress test results; echocardiogram or ECG results.

Several labels carry their own distinct temporary 100 percent window tied to a recent event, before the shared formula applies: active cardiac infection with cardiac involvement, or within 3 months of cessation of therapy (DC 7000/7001/7002); myocardial infarction within the past 3 months (DC 7006); pacemaker implantation within the past month (DC 7009); heart valve replacement, applying indefinitely from hospital admission (DC 7016); coronary bypass surgery within the past 3 months (DC 7017); cardiac transplantation, a minimum of 1 year from hospital admission (DC 7019); and sustained ventricular arrhythmia therapy, aneurysmectomy, or an AICD in place, applying indefinitely with no fixed end date (DC 7011).

• Each of these windows is tracked as its own distinct atomic fact -- never combined into one composite question -- because they describe genuinely different events with different durations.
• DC 7016 (valve replacement) and DC 7019 (cardiac transplantation) both carry a mandatory post-discharge examination requirement (6 months for DC 7016, 1 year for DC 7019); DC 7011 also carries a mandatory 6-month post-discharge examination. RatingScope discloses these requirements rather than automating the examination itself.
• Once the applicable window has passed, the shared METs-based formula (or, for DC 7019, that formula with a 30 percent floor) determines the ongoing evaluation.

Records to review: Hospital admission and discharge records; surgical records; treatment records documenting therapy cessation date.

After cardiac transplantation's mandatory minimum 1-year 100 percent window (from hospital admission) ends, DC 7019 does not simply fall back to whatever the shared METs formula would otherwise produce -- it applies a 30 percent floor, so a result that would otherwise land at 10 percent or 0 percent is raised to 30 percent instead.

• This floor is implemented explicitly in RatingScope's evaluator logic (a direct comparison raising the shared formula's result to at least 30 percent for this label specifically), not merely disclosed as a note.
• No other label in this hub carries this specific floor -- DC 7016 (valve replacement) and the other temporary-window labels fall back to the unmodified shared formula once their own window ends.
• A mandatory examination 1 year after hospital discharge is also required by the regulation and is disclosed in this hub, not automated.

Records to review: Hospital admission and discharge records; post-transplant follow-up examination records.

Several codes in this range have no independent evaluation criteria of their own within this hub, and RatingScope deliberately does not auto-compute a cross-dispatch result for any of them -- it names the diagnostic code to evaluate under instead, and stops there.

• DC 7003 (pericardial adhesions) has no independent criteria of its own -- it folds into the DC 7000/7001/7002 combined entry, per the regulation's own text.
• DC 7004 (syphilitic heart disease) has no independent evaluation table within this hub's scope -- its aortic-aneurysm manifestation is rated under DC 7110, which is out of scope here.
• DC 7008 (hyperthyroid heart disease) is a pure redirect: 'Rate under the appropriate cardiovascular diagnostic code, depending on particular findings.' It has no percentage table of its own.
• DC 7018 (implantable cardiac pacemakers) provides 100 percent for 1 month post-implant. Thereafter, evaluate as DC 7010 (supraventricular tachycardia), DC 7011 (ventricular arrhythmias), or DC 7015 (atrioventricular block), whichever applies, with a 10 percent minimum -- RatingScope does not compute this for you.
• DC 7015 (atrioventricular block) uses the shared formula only for benign forms (First-Degree, or Second-Degree Type I). Non-benign forms (Second-Degree Type II, or Third-Degree/complete) are rated under DC 7018 instead.
• AICDs are specifically redirected to DC 7011 for evaluation, per the regulation's own cross-reference under DC 7018 -- DC 7011 itself is not a redirect, it has its own indefinite 100 percent criterion (see the temporary-windows topic above).

Records to review: Heart Conditions DBQ; cardiology specialist records identifying the specific arrhythmia or block type.

The DC 7000-7020 numbering range is not fully continuous. DC 7012 has never been assigned a diagnosis in the current schedule. DC 7013 and DC 7014 were both removed effective January 12, 1998. None of the three carry any criteria, facts, or registry rows in RatingScope -- they are disclosed here rather than silently skipped in the numbering.

• This is the same kind of numbering-gap disclosure this codebase has made before for other body systems -- for example, Scars' DC 7803 removal (merged into DC 7804) and Larynx's DC 6517 removal.
• Encountering a reference to DC 7012, 7013, or 7014 in older records or discussions does not indicate a current, ratable diagnostic code.
• This hub covers exactly 18 of the 21 numbers in the DC 7000-7020 range, corresponding to the 18 diagnostic codes actually assigned today.

Records to review: Federal Register historical rulemaking record.

38 CFR 4.100 governs how the shared METs-based General Rating Formula for Diseases of the Heart is applied, separately from the formula's own percentage tiers.

• 4.100(a) requires that cardiac hypertrophy or dilatation (documented by electrocardiogram, echocardiogram, or X-ray) and any need for continuous medication be ascertained in every case, regardless of which tier ultimately applies.
• 4.100(b) requires METs testing itself in all cases -- even when the 10 percent continuous-medication path or the 30 percent hypertrophy/dilatation path is independently met -- except (1) when there is a medical contraindication, or (2) when a 100 percent evaluation can already be assigned on another basis, such as one of this hub's own temporary 100 percent windows.
• This section applies to the 11 labels that share the METs-based formula; it does not apply to DC 7010's independent 2-tier ladder, which never uses METs testing.
• RatingScope discloses this testing requirement and its two exceptions; it does not determine whether a medical contraindication exists in a specific record.

Records to review: Exercise stress test or METs-equivalent testing results; Echocardiogram, ECG, or X-ray results confirming cardiac hypertrophy or dilatation; Medical records documenting a contraindication to METs testing, if applicable.

For DCs 7009 (bradycardia/pacemaker), 7010 (supraventricular tachycardia), 7011 (ventricular arrhythmias), and 7015 (atrioventricular block), a single evaluation is assigned under the diagnostic code that reflects the predominant disability picture. This is a distinct disclosure from, and is NOT the same rule as, section 4.96(a)'s respiratory non-combination rule disclosed elsewhere in this app for Trachea/Bronchi and Restrictive Lung Disease.

• If a veteran's records document findings under more than one of these four codes, VA does not add their percentages together or apply them as separate ratings -- it selects the single code that best reflects the predominant disability picture.
• RatingScope discloses this rule but does not automate a 'predominant disability picture' determination across these four codes; that determination requires clinical judgment RatingScope does not perform.
• This is the same kind of disclosure-only combination-rule treatment used elsewhere in this app, for example Peptic Disease's section 4.114 predominant-disability disclosure.

Records to review: Cardiology specialist records documenting all applicable arrhythmia or conduction findings.

RIN 2900-AS40, "Providing a Minimum Evaluation for Bradycardia" (91 FR 4024, published Jan. 30, 2026, docket VA-2026-VBA-0034), proposes a minimum 10 percent evaluation for DC 7009 after pacemaker implantation, aligning it with DC 7018's existing minimum-10-percent-thereafter clause, and would remove DC 7009's Note (1).

• As of this hub's current sourcing, the live regulation is unchanged: DC 7009 remains exactly as described in this hub, with no minimum-evaluation floor after its 1-month temporary window ends.
• RatingScope discloses this pending rule as a watch item and does not assume its eventual text or effective date in advance.
• RatingScope will revisit this disclosure and rebuild the relevant part of this hub's criteria if the rule is finalized, rather than guessing its eventual text now.

Records to review: Federal Register rulemaking history.

Heart condition evidence is strongest when different records describe the same confirmed pattern consistently across diagnosis, testing, and treatment findings.

• Medical records can document diagnosis, exercise stress test or METs-equivalent testing results, echocardiogram/ECG findings, and hospital admission/discharge dates for procedures.
• The Heart Conditions DBQ organizes findings for most of the diagnoses in this hub, though its own fields do not always distinguish the specific temporary-window facts each label requires.
• No single record automatically determines a percentage; the confirmed, documented pattern across the applicable diagnosis's specific findings matters.

Records to review: medical records; Heart Conditions DBQ; exercise stress test results.