Nine articles published since January 1992 on new methods of evaluating hepatic function are reviewed. These articles described the clinical significance of blood levels of cytokines, fibrin- or fibrinogen-related antigens, vitronectin, and endothelin, and of magnetic resonance spectroscopy, methionine metabolism, vasopressin clearance, vascular compliance, and radioreceptor imaging in gastroenterology. None of the methods have yet been applied to surgery. In addition, the redox theory, the evaluation of hepatic mitochondrial redox potential by arterial ketone body ratio and its clinical application, is introduced, and recent publications on the assessment of graft viability in liver transplantation and preoperative hepatic functional reserve in liver surgery based on the theory are reviewed.