During recent months we have had occasion to reexamine a large number of World War II veterans who had been discharged from the armed services because of diagnoses referable to the cardiovascular system. As this work continued, certain questions presented themselves which prompted us to analyze a consecutive series of such cases. The results of this analysis are recorded as follows: SOURCE OF MATERIAL The material used in this study was procured from the medical records and examinations of 500 veterans of World War II who were discharged from service because of disability due to heart disease or hypertension. In every case studied the induction examination report was available. In those cases discharged by the Army the complete hospital charts and other pertinent medical records were available. In the cases discharged from the Navy, either photostatic copies of the medical records or a medical summary was in the case file.