A gas-chromatographic method for the simultaneous determination of ethosuximide and valproate in serum

Conclusion

The proposed simultaneous determination of ethosuximide and valproate takes advantage of the similar properties of these substances that differ markedly from the other mainly used antiepileptic drugs. The volatility as well as the high blood concentration that are usual in therapeutics allow the measurement of ethosuximide and valproate directly in the extract without further concentration, e.g. by evaporation. On the other hand, one can optimise the methods for the determination of the other anticonvulsant drugs that are poorly volatile putting ethosuximide and valproate aside [1] and give up procedures using temperature programs with temperature differences of more than 100 ° C between the starting and the endpoint.