Forty-three patients who were scheduled to undergo a percutaneous liver biopsy were evaluated with Doppler sonography to determine the hepatic arterial resistive index (RI). The histologic specimens were graded by a pathologist regarding cirrhosis and inflammation. The specimens demonstrated no cirrhosis in 12 of 43 (28%) patients, early cirrhosis in 10 of 43 (23%), and established cirrhosis in 21 of 43 (49%). Analysis also revealed that inflammation was absent in three of 43 (7%) patients, minimal in seven of 43 (16%), mild in 17 of 43 (40%), moderate in 13 of 43 (30%), and severe in three of 43 (7%). Hepatic artery RIs (without correction for heart rate) ranged from 0.64 +/- 0.06 in patients with early cirrhosis to 0.68 +/- 0.09 in patients with severe inflammation. There was no significant correlation between the degree of cirrhosis and/or inflammation and hepatic artery RI (with or without correction for heart rate). We conclude that Doppler determination of hepatic artery RIs is not a reliable method of predicting the severity of hepatic cirrhosis and/or inflammation.