Doctors at the California Pacific Medical Center completed Friday a rare organ transplant chain that gave six people the healthy kidneys they need to live.

The six-way kidney swap involved matching donors and recipients using software called MatchGrid, a program that allows incompatible pairs to be matched with others. The software matched all involved using genetic characteristics, generating a series of matches where every donor is paired with a transplant candidate. The parties involved generally don't know each other but they are compatible as donors and recipients.

The first round of surgeries started Thursday. By Friday afternoon, all operations were completed. The six-way kidney swap involved five surgeons with dozens of the hospital's staff on-hand for the two-day procedure.

"All the surgeries went smoothly. Everybody is now in their recovery rooms and getting some well-deserved rest," said Dean Fryer, CPMC spokesperson.

In about two or three days, donors may be released. Recipients, on the other hand, may be allowed to go home after three to five days.

One of the those recovering is Zully Broussard, the altruistic 55-year-old donor from Sacramento which jump-started the six-way kidney swap. She was initially supposed to donate a kidney to a friend. When that didn't push through, Broussard still insisted on donating and was matched to a man in Benicia, who had a sister-in-law who was also willing to donate but was not a match to him. Her kidney was matched to a woman in Fresno, who had a son who, in turn, became a donor for another woman in need of a transplant, and so on.

According to Fryer, the six-way kidney swap was the largest procedure of its kind in the 44 years that CPMC has been handling transplants. In 2011, the hospital earned the distinction of being the first transplant center to accomplish a five-way swap in the state.

In the United States alone, over 350,000 people are undergoing dialysis every year, while around 93,000 are in line for a kidney transplant. In 2014, 4,500 patients died while waiting for a kidney that could've extended their life. Out of the 5,771 individuals who were living kidney donors last year, 161 were altruistic. This means they did not know the recipients of their kidneys and made the donations based solely on the interest to help another. While 161 doesn't sound impressive, any time a living donation is accomplished impacts the transplant list positively.

Photo: Artur Bergman | Flickr