We undertook a preliminary investigation to determine whether or not preoperative hepatitis activity can be evaluated by the finding of cell infiltration into the parenchyma of the resected specimen. In 28 patients who underwent hepatic resection, liver biopsies were obtained just after the laparotomy in order to make a histological comparison with the resected liver specimen. Histological changes were observed in 11 out of 28 patients. However, these were limited to minimal changes of neutrophil infiltration in the portal and subserosal area with no derangement of chronic cell infiltration. In addition, the preoperative liver function and operative findings did not differ between patients with and those without histological changes. The activity of hepatitis was therefore seen not to be histologically influenced by the surgical procedure. Thus, an accurate evaluation of chronic inflammatory cell infiltration activity in the resected liver specimen is a reliable indicator in chronic liver disease patients.