Objective To study the correlation between ADC values of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and the pathological features and microvascular invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma. Methods A total of 133 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who admitted to the hospital during the period from February 2015 to February 2018 were collected. All patients were examined by MRI and ADC values of DWI were measured. Pathological data of all patients were collected, including liver function, location of the lesion, diameter, differentiation degree and microvascular invasion of tumors. The correlation of ADC values with the pathological features and microvascular invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma were analyzed. The ROC curves for the diagnosis of poorly differentiated hepatocellular carcinoma and microvascular invasion with ADC values were plotted. Results The ADC value was positively correlated with the differentiation degree of hepatocellular carcinoma (P<0.05), and negatively correlated with microvascular invasion (P<0.05). When the ADC value was or lower than 1.097×10-3mm2 /s, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and total coincidence rate for the diagnosis of poorly differentiated hepatocellular carcinoma were 74.4%, 77.7%, 58.0%, 88.0% and 76.7%, respectively. When the ADC value was or lower than 1.138×10-3mm2 / s, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and total coincidence rate for predicting microvascular invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma were 69.4%, 67.0%, 43.9%, 85.5% and 67.7%, respectively. Conclusion The ADC values of DWI are positively correlated with the differentiation degree of hepatocellular carcinoma and negatively correlated with microvascular invasion. The measurement of preoperative ADC value can provide references for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma.