[Return to work after myocardial infarction]

The working status of 41 men under the age of 60, who developed myocardial infarction while in vocational activity was investigated by means of a questionnaire, 3 years on average after the infarction: 63% had resumed work some time after the disease and 59% were working when the enquiry was made. The ability to resume work cannot be predicted from the patient's medical condition at the time of infarction (location of the infarct, complications during the acute stage, left ventricular ejection fraction). The only unfavourable factors are age and the presence of residual angina or marked post-infarction dyspnoea, although most patients who had not resumed work were fit for employment. Clinicians should be fully aware of the occupational future of patients with coronary artery disease--a future that is particularly at stake in this period of economic crisis in industrial countries.