The complications of intravenous Corynebacterium parvum infusion.

100 intravenous infusions of Corynebacterium parvum were given to thirty-six patients at a dose of 5 mg/m2. Fever and rigors occurred in all patients but these acute side effects were acceptable to all but two patients. Seventeen patients suffered a delayed fall in blood pressure, which was marked in eight of them but was generally well tolerated. One patient died 18 hr after infusion from extensive myocardial infarction. Herpes labialis complicated the first infusion in nine instances, which may reflect transient immunosuppression following immunotherapy.