Citation Nr: 18152081
Decision Date: 11/21/18	Archive Date: 11/20/18

DOCKET NO. 13-26 047
DATE:	November 21, 2018
ORDER
Entitlement to service connection for chronic sinusitis is granted.
FINDING OF FACT
Resolving reasonable doubt in his favor, the Veteran’s chronic sinusitis is etiologically related to his service-connected residuals of a fractured nose. 
CONCLUSION OF LAW
The criteria for service connection for chronic sinusitis are met.  38 U.S.C. §§ 1131, 5107 (2012); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.310 (2018).
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION
The Veteran served on active duty from January 1983 to January 1986 in the United States Army.  
This case comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a December 2010 rating decision issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in St. Petersburg, Florida.  
In April 2017, the Veteran testified before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge.  A transcript of the hearing is of record.  
In August 2017, the Board remanded the claim for additional development.  
Service Connection Claim – Chronic Sinusitis 
The Veteran has asserted that his chronic sinusitis is etiologically related to his service-connected residuals of a fractured nose.  
The Veteran’s service treatment records are unremarkable for any complaints, treatment, or diagnoses related to sinusitis.  In August 1984, he sustained a blow to the nose and an X-ray revealed a fracture midway along the nasal bone.  He is service-connected for residuals of the nasal fracture.  
In this case, there is evidence for and against the claim for service connection.  The evidence against the claim primarily includes VA examinations conducted in November 2010, July 2013, and October 2017, which did not show evidence of chronic sinusitis.  
The evidence in favor of the claim primarily includes a June 2011 VA treatment record and medical opinion.  In June 2011, a VA physician noted that the Veteran fractured his nose during service and that it went unfixed.  The physician stated that the Veteran subsequently developed chronic sinusitis and that he believed that issue was related to the unrepaired broken nose.  Although there are VA treatment records noting that the Veteran had no sinus or nasal congestion, a January 2018 VA treatment record indicated that he was treated for a sinus infection with antibiotics; that two days after finishing the antibiotics, his symptoms returned; that he was experiencing sinus congestion and pain; and that the assessment was chronic sinusitis with headache and facial pain.  
Based on the foregoing, the Board finds that the evidence for and against the claim of entitlement to service connection for chronic sinusitis is at least in equipoise.  Resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran’s favor, the Board finds that service connection for chronic sinusitis is warranted.  38 U.S.C. § 5107; 38 C.F.R. § 3.102; Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 49, 53 (1990).  
 
Kristin Haddock
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	S. Mishalanie, Counsel