Assessment of recent techniques in diagnosis of chronic hepatic disorders.

One hundred and one patients with bilharzial complication were selected and subjected to ultrasonography (U.S.), computed tomography (C.T.) and laparoscopy. Laparoscopy proved to be the most reliable technique in diagnosis of early pure bilharzial hepatic affection and is more specific compared to both U.S. and C.T. (P less than 0.05). U.S. proved to be more reliable than C.T in diagnosis of diffuse hepatic disorders. CT/or US are more specific in diagnosis of focal than diffuse liver diseases. CT proved to be more reliable than U.S. in detecting primary hepatocellular carcinoma and in assessment of hepatic spread.