The forced vital capacity (FVC) is an established, venerable test used principally to assess certain aspects of pulmonary function.* However, its utility in the evaluation of cardiovascular disease incidence and mortality has remained controversia1. 2-4 Levine5 proposed the test as a useful office procedure for evaluating the progress of cardiac failure. More recent prospective investigation@ in the Framingham Study have demonstrated its utility for pre-dicting cardiac failure as well. Now that 20 years of follow-up data are available, it is possible to examine the relationship of the FVC to development of each of the major cardiovascular diseases and to cardiovascular mortality. The purpose of this report is to do so, taking into account the major cardiovascular risk factors, chest deformity, pulmonary disease, and cardiac failure.