Citation Nr: 18149944
Decision Date: 11/14/18	Archive Date: 11/14/18

DOCKET NO. 15-01 948
DATE:	November 14, 2018
ORDER
Entitlement to service connection for sinusitis is granted.
FINDING OF FACT
Resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran’s favor, his sinusitis disability is at least as likely as not related to active service.
CONCLUSION OF LAW
The criteria for service connection for sinusitis are met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303(a).
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION
The Veteran served on active duty from August 1977 to August 1992.
The Veteran was afforded a hearing before he undersigned in March 2015. A transcript of the hearing has been associated with the claims file. 
In a May 2015 decision, the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) reopened the  claim of entitlement to service connection for sinusitis and remanded the claim for additional development. Thereafter, in a January 2016 rating decision the Regional Office granted entitlement ot service connection for allergic rhinitis and migraine headaches and stated that this was a complete grant of the issue on appeal. However, as the Veteran was not granted entitlement to service connection for sinusitis in the January 2016 rating decision, the claim remains on appeal before the Board and is considered below.
Entitlement to service connection for sinusitis 
The Veteran seeks entitlement to service connection for sinusitis. He contends that he had sinus problems in and since service.
The Board concludes that during the period on appeal, the Veteran had a diagnosis of sinusitis that is related to his active service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5107(b); Holton v. Shinseki, 557 F.3d 1363, 1366 (Fed. Cir. 2009); 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(a).
In a VA examination report dated in June 2010 the Veteran was diagnosed with chronic allergic rhinitis/sinusitis. In an April 2012 treatment note, the impression was rendered that the Veteran had sinusitis.
A VA medical opinion was obtained in January 2016. The examiner rendered     the opinion that it is at least as likely as not the Veteran’s rhinitis and sinusitis disorder arose during service or are otherwise related to an incident of service.
In a treatment note dated in March 2016 the Veteran reported that he had sinus problems. It was noted that his sinuses closed significantly during the night.
Entitlement to service connection for sinusitis is warranted.  Although the VA examiners have indicated that the Veteran is diagnosed with rhinitis and do not indicate sinusitis, VA treatment records indicate that the Veteran has been diagnosed with chronic sinusitis during the period on appeal. As such, the evidence is at least in equipoise that the Veteran had a diagnosis of sinusitis during the period on appeal. 
Although VA medical opinions of record do not associate sinusitis with the Veteran’s service, the January 2016 VA examination opinion indicates that it is at least as likely as not that the Veteran’s sinusitis disorder arose during service or is otherwise related to an incident in service. As such, the evidence is at least in equipoise that the Veteran had sinusitis during the period on appeal and that it was incurred in active service. Therefore, service connection for sinusitis is granted. 

 
K. A. BANFIELD
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	Robert J. Burriesci, Counsel