Citation Nr: 0812574 Decision Date: 04/16/08 Archive Date: 05/01/08 DOCKET NO. 04-06 137 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Waco, Texas THE ISSUES 1. Entitlement to an initial compensable rating for the service-connected chronic maxillary sinusitis. 2. Entitlement to an initial compensable rating for the service-connected allergic rhinitis. REPRESENTATION Appellant represented by: Disabled American Veterans WITNESS AT HEARING ON APPEAL Appellant ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD L.B. Cryan, Counsel INTRODUCTION The veteran had active service from October 1993 to October 2000. This case is before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a January 2003 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Waco, Texas that, in pertinent part, granted service connection for chronic maxillary sinusitis and allergic rhinitis and assigned noncompensable ratings for each of those disabilities. The veteran appealed the initial noncompensable ratings assigned. In March 2008, the veteran testified at a video conference hearing at the RO before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge sitting in Washington, DC. A transcript of her testimony is associated with the claims file. The appeal is REMANDED to the RO via the Appeals Management Center (AMC), in Washington, DC. VA will notify the appellant if further action is required. REMAND At her video conference hearing in March 2008, the veteran testified that her allergic rhinitis and sinus conditions had recently worsened in severity, and caused bad headaches. The veteran also noted that she had missed several days of work as a result of these service-connected disabilities. In light of the foregoing, the veteran should be reexamined by a VA otolaryngologist to determine the current nature, extent, and severity of the service-connected sinusitis and allergic rhinitis conditions. Accordingly, the case is REMANDED for the following action: 1. Obtain and associate with the claims file all available recent VA and/or private medical records concerning treatment received by the veteran for her sinus and allergic rhinitis conditions, not already associated with the claims file. 2. Schedule the veteran for a VA otolaryngology examination to determine the current severity of the service- connected chronic maxillary sinusitis and allergic rhinitis in terms of the Rating Schedule. All indicated tests must be conducted. The claims file must be made available to and reviewed by the examiner in conjunction with the examination. The examiner should provide an opinion as to the extent of functional impairment due to the sinusitis and allergic rhinitis. The examiner should record the veteran's number of incapacitating and non- incapacitating episodes per year of sinusitis and whether they require prolonged antibiotic treatment and/or are characterized by headaches, pain, and purulent discharge and/or crusting. The examiner should determine whether the veteran's allergic rhinitis it is manifested by nasal polyps, and if not, whether there is greater than 50 percent obstruction of nasal passage on both sides or complete obstruction on one side. A complete rationale for any opinion expressed must be provided. 3. Following completion of the development requested, readjudicate the veteran's claims. If any benefit sought on appeal remains denied, the veteran and her representative should be provided with a supplemental statement of the case (SSOC), and an appropriate period of time allowed for response. The appellant has the right to submit additional evidence and argument on the matters the Board has remanded. Kutscherousky v. West, 12 Vet. App. 369 (1999). This claim must be afforded expeditious treatment. The law requires that all claims that are remanded by the Board of Veterans' Appeals or by the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims for additional development or other appropriate action must be handled in an expeditious manner. See 38 U.S.C.A. §§ 5109B, 7112 (West Supp. 2007). _________________________________________________ RONALD W. SCHOLZ Veterans Law Judge, Board of Veterans' Appeals Under 38 U.S.C.A. § 7252 (West 2002), only a decision of the Board of Veterans' Appeals is appealable to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. This remand is in the nature of a preliminary order and does not constitute a decision of the Board on the merits of your appeal. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1100(b) (2007).