Four Canadian patients got on Wednesday new kidneys from live donors in a simultaneous kidney swap surgeries that took place in Vancouver, Edmonton and Toronto.

The operations were done at 10:30 a.m. at the Toronto General Hospital, University of Alberta Hospital and the St. Paul's Hospital. The organ donors were not related to the recipients of the kidney, although the relative of the recipient will still donate a kidney, which in turn is passed on to another stranger.

The synchronized event ensures the relative of the kidney recipient will go on with the organ donation even if the vital body part will be transferred to another person not related to them. The complex donation system was arranged by the Canadian Blood Services, which launched in February the Living Donor Paired Exchange Registry.

The registry seeks and connects paired kidney exchanges, which was what occurred Wednesday in the three Canadian hospitals.

University Health Network head Ed Cole said after the surgeries, quoted by Globe and Mail, "This is a major step forward... The people who got kidneys today would have waited on transplant lists for years, and everyone else on the list would have had to wait longer. It shows what can be done when we work together."

The names of the kidney donors and recipients were purposely not disclosed to the public. The eight surgeries on Wednesday were initiated by an organ donor from British Columbia who offered to give a kidney to a stranger through the CBS registry.

The successful domino kidney surgeries provide hope to about 35,000 Canadians with kidney ailments. About 3,000 of them are on a waiting list for a kidney transplant. The procedure continues to gain acceptance in the country with 1,200 kidney transplants performed in 2007, of which 480 kidneys transferred came from live donors.

The CBS predicts live kidney donations in Canada, facilitated by the registry, will grow by 20 percent or more.