BACKGROUND: Diastolic heart failure with normal ejection fraction is more common in women than in men. However, the interaction of gender and age with diastolic function has rarely been analyzed. METHODS: Total 100 healthy female patients who performed transthoracic echocardiography without underlying disease were analyzed. Patients with left ventricular (LV) dysfunction, kidney, liver and lung disease, and obese patients were excluded. We evaluated LV filling pattern, and measured E/E��� ratio, diameter of the left atrium (LA), LV ejection fraction, diameter of ascending aorta and LV mass index. RESULTS: The median age was 50짹17 years. Thirty six patients showed normal LV filling pattern while 64% of patients showed relaxation abnormality pattern. The percentage of relaxation abnormality pattern and E/E��� ratio increased according to aging (table 1) and positive correlation between age and E/E��� ratio was observed (r=0.539, p<0.001). The diameter of the LA and aorta, LV mass and LV mass index showed positive correlation with E/E��� ratio (r=0.356, p<0.00, r=0.298, p=0.003, r=0.308, p=0.002, r=0.371, p<0.00, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Diastolic function impairs according to aging in normal Korean women and these changes may be partially related with preclinical LV remodeling. These results suggest that we should be cautious in diagnosis of diastolic heart failure in female patients.