Italy’s former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has been diagnosed with leukaemia after he was admitted to hospital, Reuters reports.
The 86-year-old was being treated in intensive care at Milan’s San Raffaele Hospital on Wednesday after suffering breathing problems.
Reuters cited a source who said he had been diagnosed with leukaemia, confirming what was previously reported by the Corriere della Sera daily.
The intensive care unit at San Raffaele Hospital
“He’s stable. He’s a rock,” Mr Berlusconi’s brother Paolo said after visiting him on Wednesday afternoon.
The billionaire media tycoon has suffered several bouts of ill health in recent years after contracting COVID-19 in 2020.
After being discharged from a 10-day hospital stay then he said the disease had been “insidious” and was the most dangerous challenge he had ever faced.
He has had a pacemaker for years, underwent heart surgery to replace an aortic valve in 2016 and has overcome prostate cancer. He was admitted for a reported urinary tract infection in January 2022.
Mr Berlusconi and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni
Mr Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party is part of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing coalition, but he does not have a role in government.
“Sincere and affectionate wishes for a speedy recovery to Silvio Berlusconi,” Ms Meloni wrote on social media, adding: “Forza Silvio (Come on Silvio).”