Eighty-six patients (mean age, 63 years) with 92 hepatocellular carcinomas (2.0 cm or greater in diameter; mean +/- SD, 3.5 +/- 1.6 cm) underwent color Doppler sonography before and after transcatheter arterial embolization and after subsequent percutaneous ethanol injection for (1) identification of pulsatile flow in the residual tumor area after transcatheter arterial embolization, (2) evaluation of therapeutic effectiveness of combined transcatheter arterial embolization and percutaneous ethanol injection, and (3) detection of recurrence during follow-up evaluation. Before and 2 weeks after transcatheter arterial embolization, color Doppler sonography revealed pulsatile flow in 76 (82.6%) and 43 (46.7%)lesions, respectively. After percutaneous ethanol injection, tumor stains in these lesions completely disappeared on digital subtraction angiography (gold standard). During follow-up study (3 to 45 months), digital subtraction angiography revealed recurrence in 73 patients (38 local recurrences and 19 new lesions [2.0 cm or greater]), whereas color Doppler sonography revealed pulsatile flow in 76.3% (local) and 63.2% (new) (not significant). Color Doppler sonography was useful for complying with our three objectives, especially for detecting local recurrence during follow-up evaluation.