Kidney: Living Donor Paired Exchange Registry (LDPE)
There are two types of kidney donation; deceased and living. Although deceased donation is the type most people are familiar with, it is also possible for a healthy living person to donate a kidney- living kidney donation. This involves a surgery to remove a kidney from the living donor and then to transplant it into a patient who needs a kidney - the recipient.
Kidney failure is also known as Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD). An individual with CKD has three treatment possibilities: dialysis, a transplant from a deceased donor, or a transplant from a living donor. Transplantation is a preferred alternative to dialysis. Unfortunately, there are not enough deceased kidney donations to help everyone who needs a kidney transplant; many patients on the wait list will never receive one.
There are many advantages to live kidney donation. For example, a kidney from a living donor is usually healthier, may function better, and may last longer than a kidney from a deceased donor. It also helps to shorten the wait times for other CKD patients because the person receiving a living donor kidney is no longer on the waiting list.
Any adult who is in general good health can be assessed for living kidney donation. Blood tests will first determine whether the donor is a potential match for the recipient. If so, the donor and recipient are called a compatible pair. Additional tests will then make sure that both are medically able to undergo the surgeries. Only then can a transplant be approved. The donation and transplant surgeries are scheduled when both the donor and the recipient are in the best possible health.
If the blood tests indicate that the recipient and donor do not match, they are called an incompatible pair. This means that the donor's blood type is not compatible with the recipient's blood type or the recipient has proteins in his/her blood (known as antibodies) that will reject that donor's kidney. When this happens, if the pair is interested, additional medical tests can be done to see if they are healthy enough to participate in the Living Donor Paired Exchange (LDPE) Registry.
The LDPE Registry is a secure computer database. It contains medical information about incompatible donor-recipient pairs from across Canada. The Registry compares the medical information on all the pairs in the database and identifies pairs that might be able to exchange donors.
On February 12, 2009, Canadian Blood Services held a press conference to publicly launch the LDPE Registry.
Click here to read the News Release.
To find out more, check out our Brochures or contact your nearest Living Donor Program.
Living Donor Programs
University of Alberta Hospital, Edmonton
Toll Free: 1-866-253-6833
Direct Line: 780-407-8698
livingdonors@capitalhealth.ca
Southern Alberta Transplant Program
Living Donor Services
Phone: 403-944-4635
Fax: 403-944-2755
www.calgaryhealthregion.ca/programs/altra/
Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre, Halifax
Live Kidney Donor Program
Office: 902-473-5501
Toll Free: 1-888-362-8555
Fax: 902-473-4423
The New Brunswick Organ and Tissue Procurement Program/
Le Programme de prélèvement d’organes et de tissus
Hospital Services, Department of Health/
Services hospitaliers, Ministère de Santé
520 King Street
Fredericton NB E3B 6G3
Phone: 506-643-6848
Fax: 506-444-5050
St. Paul’s Hospital, Vancouver
Phone: 604-806-9027
Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca
British Columbia Transplant, Vancouver General Hospital
Phone: 604-877-2240
Toll Free: 1-800-663-6189
Fax: 604-877-2111
Email: livingdonor@transplant.bc.ca
Website: www.transplant.bc.ca
Transplant Manitoba
Phone: (204) 787-7001
Fax: (204) 787-8845
University Health Network, Toronto General Hospital
416-340-6385
St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto
416-867-7460 (ext. 8245)
Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto
416-813-5908
London Health Sciences Centre, London
519-685-8500 (ext. 32331)
St. Joseph’s Health Care System, Hamilton
905-522-1155 (ext. 33136)
The Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa
613-738-8400 (ext. 82778)
Kingston General Hospital, Kingston
613-549-6666 (ext 2140)
Saskatchewan Transplant Program
Saskatoon:
Phone: 306-655-5054
Email: renaltransplant@saskatoonhealthregion.ca
Regina:
235 Albert Street N.
Regina SK S4R 3C2
Phone: 306-766-6477
Fax: 306-766-7049
Email: sasktransplant@rqhealth.ca
Contact Us: ldpe@blood.ca
Brochures
Click images to view full brochures
