Apple CEO Steven Jobs receives liver transplant in Tennessee

June 23, 4:48 PMOrgan and Tissue Donor ExaminerCathy Doheny

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Steven Jobs in 2008*

Late Friday evening, reports began to surface that Apple CEO, Steven Jobs, had received a liver transplant two months ago at the University of Tennessee in Memphis. Though Jobs resides in California, he placed himself on the Tennessee registry, where the wait for a transplant is only on average 48 days, compared to 306 days nationally.

Though most patients choose to register at a transplant center convenient to where they live or one to which they are directed by their insurance company, patients are allowed to register in other states, as long as they have been examined and approved for an organ by a doctor at a particular transplant center in that state and can get to the transplant center within approximately six hours. Obviously, this means having either a generous insurance plan or sufficient funds to cover the costs of travel expenses, medical testing, and the transplant itself. It has not been reported whether Jobs was registered in any other states.

Though the reason for Job's liver transplant has yet to be confirmed, experts speculate that it was to treat the neuroendocrine tumor, a rare type of pancreatic cancer, with which he was diagnosed in 2004. As no large-scale, controlled studies had been done to assess the benefits of transplants for this type of cancer, Job's new liver has become controversial for some.

  For more info: National Transplant Statistics (Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients)

*photo - Wikimedia Commons - Matthew Yohe Original uploader was Aido2002 at en.wikipedia