Objective To investigate the value of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) in the assessment of liver fibrosis,so as to detect liver fibrosis earlierly and prevent the development of hepatic cirrhosis and carcinoma. Methods Totally 43 hepatitis patients and 10 healthy volunteers were included in this study. All of them underwent DWI on a 3.0T magnetic resonance imaging system with b value 0,500,1000s/mm2,respectively. Liver biopsy was performed 2 weeks after DWI,normally hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining. Biopsy specimens were scored for chronic hepatitis fibrosis according to the Knodell histological activity index (HAI). Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 17.0 was used for the analysis. The apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values of liver segments in patients and controls were compared. Then the relationship between fibrosis and HAI in patients with respect to liver segments was also statistically analyzed. Results The ADC values of patients were lower than the normal controls. There were positive relationships between ADC and HAI,ADC and fibrosis. Conclusions DWI can be used to evaluate the stages of liver fibrosis in hepatitis patients.