The medical records for all Olmsted County residents ages 30 and over coming to autopsy for the period 1950-1978 were reviewed. Data abstracted included date of death, age at death, sex, weight, heart weight, grade of lesions in the coronary arteries, and evidence of recent or old myocardial infarction. All autopsy records for 1980 through 1984 were reviewed for coronary heart disease. Beginning in 1986, valvular heart disease data were also collected for the period 1950 through 1987.