Kidney & Renal Transplant

National program saves lives of 1000 hard-to-match kidney recipients like this BC woman

Jane Hennessy is one of 1000 hard-to-match kidney transplant recipients who received a donor kidney through the Highly Sensitive Patients national program.

The national Highly Sensitized Patient (HSP) program for kidney transplants has reached the milestone of 1000 transplants.

The patients who are part of this important marker include 93 Canadians who received their transplants at St. Paul’s Hospital.

Jane Hennessy is one of them.

“I was incredibly fortunate to receive a kidney transplant, even more so because as a highly sensitized recipient, my chances of finding a match were more tenuous than many,” says Hennessy, a visual artist who lives on the Sunshine Coast. “The transplant was successful, and I have a new lease on life. I can’t tell you how well I’m doing.”

Born with a genetic renal problem called Alport Syndrome, Hennessy, 75, lived a normal life until about four years ago. That’s when her kidney function tumbled to about nine per cent of its normal level. She experienced side effects, including a crushing loss of energy.   

She began home dialysis, knowing that one day she would likely need a transplant. When that time came and she was approved for one, tests revealed she was a highly sensitized patient. She was placed on the national list.  “I was terrified about the whole thing,” she recalls.

Patients face higher risk of organ rejection

The HSP program is operated by Canadian Blood Services in collaboration with BC Transplant and other provincial donation and transplant programs and organizations. Launched in 2013, it gives highly sensitized patients access to a larger national pool of kidney donors, sharing them across provincial boundaries.

The 1000 patients whose lives were saved through this organ-sharing initiative include 144 hard-to-match British Columbians who received a kidney – and a second chance at life.

‘Highly sensitized’ means these patients have exceptionally high antibody levels due to factors like blood transfusions, previous transplants or previous pregnancies that will cause them to reject a kidney from most donors. This makes it highly difficult to find a suitable donor match.

A quarter of British Columbians are HSPs

Dr. Jag Gill, transplant nephrologist at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver, says, “Roughly 25 per cent of patients listed for a kidney transplant in BC are highly sensitized, and cannot receive a kidney from 95 per cent of donors.”

Because they are hard to match, these patients can wait several years on the waitlist. Some may never find a suitable match. 

Dr. Jag Gill

Hennessy was fortunate. She waited only 11 months before the appropriate kidney came along through the program, allowing her to have her surgery at St. Paul’s.

Dr. Gill says highly sensitized patients develop antibodies against proteins called human leukocyte antigens. “Antibodies are produced by the immune system in response to infection or after exposure to another person’s blood or tissues,” he explains. “That is why those who have been pregnant, had blood transfusions or a prior organ transplant may become HSPs.”

Program dramatically changes patient outcomes: St. Paul’s nephrologist

Dr. Gill calls the program a great success, particularly in BC, where, of the 144 British Columbians who received a kidney through the HSP program, 103 were from donors elsewhere in Canada.

“The HSP program has dramatically changed the outcomes for these 144 patients in our province, and hundreds more nationally,” says Dr. Gill. “We know highly sensitized candidates on the waitlist have a greater chance of becoming ill or dying while they wait. By working together with our donation and transplant partners, we are saving more lives.”

Hennessy acknowledges the generosity of the donor in transforming her life. “I am both sad and enormously grateful for the person and their act of donating a kidney.  I hope that the grief of the family is mitigated in some small part by knowing a life was saved.”

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Canadians are encouraged to register their decision to become an organ and tissue donor and to share their decision with their family and loved ones. Spread awareness of organ and tissue donation in your community and join us as we work towards a day when no one in Canada dies while waiting for a transplant.

Learn more about deceased donation and how you can register your intent to donate in BC at transplant.bc.ca or registeryourdecision.ca.

Story by Ann Gibbon, Providence Health Care and BC Transplant