Radial "high-performance" thin-layer chromatography used to assess fetal lung maturity.

A radial "high-performance" thin-layer chromatographic (HPTLC) method is described by which the percentages and ratios of phosphatidylinositol, sphingomyelin, lecithin, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, and dimethyl phosphatidylethanolamine may be determined simultaneously. An additional method for radial HPTLC determination of saturated phosphatidylcholine is described. We report results of application of these methods to greater than 2000 specimens of amniotic fluid from both diabetic and nondiabetic cases.