Data from a case-control study were analyzed to examine wife's education and risk of primary cardiac arrest in the husband. Men whose wives had more than 12 years of education had 80 per cent the rate of men with less educated wives (odds ratio = 0.8, 95% confidence interval = 0.5, 1.3), after adjustment for risk factors. There was no evidence of a status incongruity effect. These data are inconsistent with reports of positive associations between wife's education and coronary heart disease.