Liver transplant mooted for Apple's Steve Jobs

Stephen Withers
Monday, 19 January 2009 08:30

Opinion and Analysis

According to Bloomberg, Jobs "is considering a liver transplant as a result of complications after treatment for pancreatic cancer".

The news is ascribed to "people who are monitoring his illness."

Bloomberg claims to have spoken to Jobs, who reportedly said "Why don't you guys leave me alone - why is this important?"

The reason it is important is that there are enough people that think Apple's fortunes are inextricably bound up with Jobs' leadership.

This is largely based on the company's resurgence since Jobs returned to the helm in 1997.

Bloomberg also quoted a professor of surgery as saying that the outcome of a liver transplant "can be quite good."

He added that complete livers were usually reserved for patients with other conditions, and that a partial transplant from a living donor was a possibility.