New national program will improve the chances of getting kidney transplants

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This article was published 21/05/2015 (3261 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Arnold Dysart felt defeated when a transplanted kidney he had received from his brother 17 years earlier failed and he faced going back on dialysis.

What’s more, his immune system had become sensitized, meaning it would be difficult for him to find a donor match. Some folks in his situation have waited more than a decade for an organ, while others have died waiting.

But Dysart, a retired teacher and school administrator living in Gilbert Plains, got lucky.

Provincial governments, organ transplant programs and the Canadian Blood Services by last year had developed a new national program to help the 20 per cent of patients needing a new kidney that are difficult to match.

Dysart got a call last March from a nurse at Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg as he was set to eat dinner, telling him of a potential match. Within an hour, it was confirmed. He had until midnight to make the four-hour trip to Winnipeg to get to hospital to be prepared for surgery the next day.

“Before going for surgery that morning, I held my wife’s hand and told her that I loved her and prayed that it would go well,” Dysart, 64, recalled. “After surgery, I felt excited, rejuvenated — immediately felt better.”

Years in the making, the new national Highly Sensitized Patient (HSP) program was formally launched at a news conference in Winnipeg on Friday. Dysart, the first Canadian to obtain an organ under the program, was the guest of honour.

Since, he received his new kidney, 110 other Canadians whose bodies are likely to reject a donated organ unless the match is perfect have also received transplants.

Officials with Canadian Blood Services say due to the new nationally co-ordinated effort — all provinces and territories were on board by last November — an estimated 150 people a year will be able to receive a donated kidney. These are transplants that would not likely have occurred otherwise.

Dr. Peter Nickerson, medical director of Transplant Manitoba, said the HSP program is a game changer for many patients awaiting a kidney donation.

Before the program, he said, patients could only receive organs from within their own province or region. Now, they have the entire country to draw from.

Before a national program could be launched, all provinces had to standardize their laboratory tissue typing and computerized matching processes.

“There is agreement between the provinces that one kidney from every deceased donor in Canada is first checked to see whether it can be a match to a highly sensitized patient anywhere in the country,” Nickerson said. “When a rare match is found the organ is shipped to the waiting patient as a top priority.”

All told, there are 3,400 patients waiting for a kidney transplant in Canada. The average wait for an adult to obtain a transplant is 3.9 years.

Manitoba Health Minister Sharon Blady said the numbers point to the importance of organ donation.

“I want to encourage all Canadians to sign up to be an organ donor and to have those discussions with their families,” she said Friday, noting that Manitobans can register online at signupforlife.ca.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca