Coronary bypass surgery

During the three months after surgery, hospital records documenting the admission date and the bypass procedure itself are the key evidence. After that period, evidence that shows the MET level at which your symptoms appear becomes central to your rating.

A formal exercise stress test is the primary way to establish that MET level. The test report should show the workload reached and the point at which breathlessness, fatigue, angina, dizziness, arrhythmia, palpitations, or syncope appeared. If exercise testing cannot be done for medical reasons, a VA or private examiner can estimate your MET level by describing specific activities, such as slow stair climbing or shoveling snow, that bring on those symptoms. For a 30% rating based on cardiac structure rather than symptoms, an echocardiogram, multigated acquisition scan, or magnetic resonance imaging showing hypertrophy or dilatation of the heart would be needed. For the 10% level, records or a physician's statement confirming that continuous medication is required for control of your condition also support that rating. Statements from you or people who know you describing how symptoms limit your daily activities can help connect your reported exertion level to the medical findings.