Corynebacterium diphtheriae septicemia.

This report describes the case of a patient with chronic lymphocytic leukemia in whom septicemia caused by a nontoxigenic strain of Corynebacterium diphtheriae developed. Numerous abscesses were present in sections of liver and spleen taken at autopsy. The case is discussed, and the literature on infections caused by organisms of the genus Corynebacterium is briefly reviewed.