Seven hundred ninety-three patients had coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery within 30 days after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) between August 1982 and July 1987. Hospital mortality was 5.7%. Age, surgical priority, prior CABG surgery, congestive heart failure (CHF), and type of AMI were associated with increased hospital mortality by logistic regression analysis of nine independent variables. When the analysis was carried out separately for men and women, the same predictive variables were identified for men, but only surgical priority and age were predictive of operative mortality for women. Elective CABG surgery can be carried out at low risk following AMI in stable patients regardless of the interval between AMI and surgery. Patients who undergo urgent or emergency surgery and those who have CHF, Q wave infarction, or a history of prior AMI are at increased risk.