Agglutination of intralipid by sera of acutely ill patients.

The serum of over half of a group of acutely ill patients agglutinated "Intralipid' a fat emulsion based on soya bean oil designed for intravenous infusion. This reaction is probably precipitated by C-reactive protein in the presence of calcium ions. Post-mortem examinations of patients who had received intralipid showed evidence of microembolism which could have been caused by agglutination of intralipid. If this is the case then intralipid should perhaps not be given to these acutely ill patients.