BACKGROUND:This study was designed to probe the clinical value in assessing the degree of liver cirrhosis by using the arrival time of contrast agent in the right portal vein in contrast-enhanced ultrasonography, as well as the velocity and lfow volume in the right portal vein using the color Doppler velocity proifle technique. METHODS:Twenty-eight patients with HBV post-hepatic cirrhosis were grouped into compensated (13 patients) and decompensated cirrhosis (15); 30 patients without hepatic cirrhosis served as controls. Written informed consent was obtained from each patient. All the patients with hepatic cirrhosis were pathologically conifrmed by percutaneous biopsy. SonoVue was injected to detect the arrival time in the right portal vein. The velocity and lfow volume in the right portal vein were measured. The value of each parameter was compared for correlation analysis. RESULTS: The arrival time in the right portal vein in the cirrhosis group was much longer than that in the control group (24.92±1.34 vs. 20.81±0.55 sec, respectively, P