Systematic comparison of three basic methods of sample pretreatment for high-performance liquid chromatographic analysis of antiepileptic drugs using gas chromatography as a reference method.

Sera of epileptic patients which were routinely examined by gas chromatography (GC) were also analysed using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Three basic methods for the pretreatment of samples for HPLC analysis were compared: protein precipitation by adding acetonitrile to the serum, direct serum extraction using ethylacetate, and partitioning of serum and buffer solution over a stationary phase and extraction with dichloromethane/2-propanol. The analytical performance and practicability of the three methods were tested under routine conditions. The following anti-epileptic drugs and metabolites were used in the comparison of HPLC with GC: ethosuximide, primidone, phenobarbital, phenytoin, carbamazepine, N-desmethylmethsuximide, and phenylethylmalonediamide.