Clinical issues: return to work and public safety.

Return to work after cardiac events is an especially delicate question for the clinician. The cardiologic caregiver must evaluate the full clinical picture. including symptoms and morphological and functional status, as well as address complex personal. psychological, social, economic, legal. and ethical issues. The importance of job characteristics is illustrated by the existing, albeit limited, longitudinal data showing that return to high-strain work is a significant independent predictor of mortality in young men post-myocardial infarction.