Normal white blood cell counts predict long-term mortality of hemodialysis patients.

Purpose: It is unclear whether normal white blood cell (WBC) counts are predictive of subsequent mortality in hemodialysis patients.

Methods: All patients aged 17 years or more, who initiated hemodialysis at a tertiary Hospital from January 2000 to August 2017 with a dialysis vintage of greater than 90 days and normal median WBC count of their first dialysis year were included in the study. They were followed until they died, transferred to other dialysis facilities, switched to peritoneal dialysis, received a renal transplant or reached the end of the study (August 31, 2018).