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A new registry that will make it easier to match live kidney donors with suitable recipients had its official launch Thursday, with two recent donors on hand to explain how the gift of one kidney can create a domino effect that saves several people with end-stage renal disease.

Canadian Blood Services unveiled the Living Donor Paired Exchange Registry at a news conference in Ottawa, calling it “a great achievement” that will dramatically increase the pool of living kidney donors in Canada.

“When fully functional and up and running, it is anticipated that this registry will increase the likelihood of live kidney donation by somewhere in the order of 15 to 20 per cent in Canada,” said Graham Sher, CEO of Canadian Blood Services.

About 3,000 people in Canada are on waiting lists for a kidney transplant. About 480 of the nearly 1,200 kidney transplants performed in Canada in 2007 came from live donors.

Kidney swaps involving a large number of people have made headlines in the United States, and a group swap was even dramatized recently on the TV show “Grey's Anatomy.”

Organs have been shared across Canada for years, but some of the agreements are somewhat informal, and have been reached at meetings of societies of transplant physicians. Canadian Blood Services only recently took on responsibility for organ donation after merging with the Canadian Council for Donation and Transplantation.

“For a number of patients, a potential living donor is available and they're willing to donate,” explained Dr. Peter Nickerson, executive medical director for organ transplantation at CBS.

“Unfortunately, while they may be healthy and willing they are unable to fulfil their wish because of either having an incompatible tissue type or blood group with their intended friend or family member.”

By signing on to the registry, it enables a donor to give a kidney to another person who is a match, and the initial intended recipient benefits by receiving a kidney from someone else on the registry who's suitable.

Such was the case for an Ottawa couple, Gene Borys and Kelly Shannon.

Borys's original kidneys failed 13 years ago when he was living in Vancouver. He went on dialysis and later received a kidney from a deceased donor.

“About two years ago, it was getting pretty obvious that that kidney was starting to fail again,” Borys, 54, said. “Kelly, true to her character and her nature, volunteered to offer up her kidney.”

But they were told Shannon has a different blood type, and so the subject of paired exchange came up.

“I had wanted to give my kidney to my husband, and I had had my heart set on that,” she said.

“So I took some time and I thought about it, and when it was explained to us that a kidney that was a compatible blood type was going to be significantly a better option for my husband, I was very happy to join the program.”

An anonymous donor who wasn't paired with anyone offered up a kidney, and Shannon also donated, along with someone else in a pair. Altogether, three people received kidneys on that day in late November.

A similar situation occurred in Toronto late last year when Kathryn McIntyre, 64, donated a healthy kidney, which led to a domino surgery involving eight people.

“I'm registered for bone marrow, and I'm registered for platelets, and this just seemed to be a continuation of that, a logical continuation of that. And no big deal,” McIntyre said.

She has three young adult children and a network of friends who could support her if something happened, she said.

“It's been a privilege to do it. And I'm grateful that I did it. I feel just fine, just fine.”

Dr. Ed Cole said it took his large team at University Health Network from 8 a.m. until about 11 p.m. to do the four transplants.

Sher said the new national registry “went live” at the end of December, and by the end of January there were already 23 pairs on the list.

“By the summer of this year, we hope to have complete national rollout of the Living Donor Paired Exchange Registry,” he said.

Borys said that no one wants to go to a loved one to ask for a kidney, but “the truth of the matter is, the living donor operation is significantly better.”

After his operation involving a deceased donor, it took three or four weeks for the kidney to open up and work properly and there were other complications, he said.

“If I compare that to the experience I just had now, the kidney started operating right on the table. Within two days I was feeling much better.”

About 35,000 Canadians suffer from kidney disease. Treating end-stage renal disease through dialysis is expensive, and transplants are considered to be more cost effective.