A rapid and sensitive capillary electrophoretic method for the determination of idarubicin and its metabolite idarubicinol in plasma has been developed and validated. Plasma is extracted by liquid-liquid extraction using chloroform. Idarubicin, idarubicinol and the internal standard daunorubicin can be separated in less than 5 min using a phosphate buffer of pH 5 with 70% acetonitrile. Laser-induced fluorescence detection with an Ar ion laser operated at 488 nm provides a sensitive and selective detection method without interferences from biological fluids. The small sample volume of 100 microl is of particular advantage for studies in pediatric oncology. The reproducibility of the method has been shown to be sufficient for drug monitoring or pharmacokinetic studies. The limit of quantification for idarubicin in plasma is 0.5 ng/ml.