In order to perform risk stratification, 195 consecutive, unselected patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) underwent independent echocardiographic and clinical evaluation of their left ventricular function by means of the wall motion index (WMI) and Killip classification 5 days after AMI. The patients were prospectively allocated to a low, medium or high risk class depending on WMI alone, and the 1-year mortality in these classes was 2, 34 and 37%, respectively (p < 0.0001). The 1-year mortality of the patients in Killip class I, II, or III and IV was 6, 26 and 48%, respectively (p < 0.00001). The number of patients allocated to the low risk group by means of WMI was 87, and the number of patients in Killip class I was 86. Since these groups were not identical, a total of 103 patients, i.e. 53% of the study population, could be identified as low risk patients regarding 1-year mortality 5 days after AMI, when WMI and Killip classification were used in combination. We conclude that the combination of echocardiographic and clinical evaluation of left ventricular function after AMI provides a strong and yet very simple procedure to identify low risk patients, which could be easily implemented in the routine work of coronary care units.