8 years at age 60) and increasing. Further analysis is required to better define the relationship between improving survival in the dialysis and general populations. 237 THE PREVALENCE AND IMPACT OF PRURITIS IN A DIALYSIS POPULATION J HOLT1,3, S HERATH1, A LEE1,2, K MURALI1,3, M LONERGAN1,2,3, K LAMBERT1 1Wollongong Hospital, NSW; 2Shoalhaven District Memorial Hospital, Nowra, NSW; 3Shellharbour Hospital, NSW, Australia Aim: To

determine the prevalence and impact of pruritis in our dialysis population. Selleck MK-1775 Background: Itching is very common in patients who are on dialysis. Literature regarding the impact of pruritis on quality of life and intensity of itch is limited. Methods: The project was designed as a questionnaire.

Local Ethics approval was obtained. All patients on dialysis for ≥ 3 months area wide were eligible to participate. Participants were approached by an investigator and asked a series of questions. Routine blood results and lists of medications were also recorded. Participants were asked to rate their itch in 3 different ways: Visual Analogue Scale Lund Browder chart to estimate total body surface area involved Impact of itch on quality of life Results: 127 patients were recruited over a 3 month period.114 patients were on haemodialysis and 13 patients on peritoneal dialysis. The mean dialysis vintage was 66.9 months and the mean XL765 duration of HD per week was 14.6 hours. 83 patients reported suffering with itch (63%) and, of these, only 35 (42%) had informed their renal physician. The mean Visual Analogue reading was 31.7 and this method of rating itch did not correlate with any of the usual biochemical parameters. The mean body surface area involved was 18% and did not correlate with the analogue reading. The presence of itch significantly impacted on the ability to fall asleep, pentoxifylline a person’s appetite and their mood, with 69% reporting feeling

unhappy either all or most of the time. Conclusions: Itch is common in patients undergoing dialysis and has a significant impact on quality of life. The majority of patients do not report their symptoms. 238 NEUTROPHIL-LYMPHOCYTE RATIO AS A MARKER OF INFLAMMATION AND PREDICTOR OF MORTALITY IN PATIENTS WITH END-STAGE KIDNEY DISEASE BL NEUEN1, N LEATHER2, A GREENWOOD2, R GUNNARSSON2, JP KILLEN1, RA BAER1, A NIGAM1, I ISMAIL1, L BERLUND1, ML MANTHA1 1Department of Renal Medicine, Cairns Hospital, Cairns, QLD; 2School of Medicine and Dentistry, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, Australia Aim: To examine the value of neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) as a marker of inflammation and predictor of all-cause mortality in patients with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD). Background: NLR is a marker of systemic inflammation that has been shown to predict mortality in patients with coronary and peripheral vascular disease. In contrast to albumin, NLR is unlikely to be affected by nutritional status. Its prognostic value in ESKD patients is unclear.