A total of 644 patients, admitted to the Coronary Care Unit of a district hospital in Glostrup, Denmark, for acute myocardial infarction, were discharged during a 3-yr period. Of these patients, 71% were employed at the time of the infarction and > 80% of this group returned to work. Among the long-term survivors (LTS) aged < 65 yr who were employed at the time of infarction, 87% of the male and 74% of the female patients resumed work some time afterwards. Among 347 LTS age was the main factor determining whether or not patients could resume work; the number of experienced infarctions and signs and/or symptoms of heart failure during the acute phase were of no consequence. The occurrence of additional symptoms of ischemic heart diseases (recurrences of infarction, presence of angina pectoris, demand for drugs) was of prognostic importance for whether or not patients had to abandon work. The ability of patients to resume their previous work depended on the character of the latter, i.e., its type and the physical strain involved. About 80% of the LTS resumed work within 3 mo. Patients in whom heart failure had occurred during the acute phase tended to return to work later than those without this complication. No more than half of the LTS who abandoned work declared that cardiac symptoms were the reason.