Silvio Berlusconi: Former Italian prime minister diagnosed with leukaemia
Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has been diagnosed with leukaemia after being admitted to intensive care, according to media reports on Thursday.
Berlusconi was diagnosed with leukaemia a day after being admitted to intensive care, according to sources cited by news agency Reuters on Thursday.
The 86-year-old billionaire media mogul was being treated in a cardiac unit at Milan's San Raffaele hospital after being admitted on Wednesday, reportedly with breathing problems.
READ ALSO: Former Italian PM Berlusconi in intensive care in hospital
There has been no official comment on his condition, but the diagnosis of leukaemia, which is a cancer of the blood cells, was confirmed to Reuters by a source close to Berlusconi following a report in Italy's Corriere della Sera newspaper.
"We're all very worried," Deputy Culture Minister Vittorio Sgarbi, Berlusconi's close friend, said Thursday.
"I hope he has the strength in him to resist this latest attack, which now has a sinister name, leukaemia."
Berlusconi started chemotherapy treatment on Wednesday after hospitalisation, according to Corriere, and he is reportedly in a "stable" condition after spending the night in hospital.
Berlusconi's spokesman Paolo Russo said he was not authorised to give health information, but "the Corriere della Sera is the most authoritative Italian newspaper".
The San Raffaele Hospital in Milan, where former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was admitted on Wednesday. (Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP)
As close family members arrived at the hospital, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said he had spoken to Berlusconi's doctor, who told him "his condition is stable"
He also said Berlusconi was feeling well enough to be making phone calls.
The leader of the right-wing Forza Italia party, Berlusconi spent four days last month at the same hospital for what Italian news reports called heart issues, before being discharged on March 30th.
After dominating Italian politics for two decades, Berlusconi now appears visibly diminished on the rare occasions he is seen in public.
Berlusconi was in hospital for 11 days for Covid-related pneumonia in September 2020, after contracting the virus while on holiday in Sardinia, describing it as "perhaps the most difficult ordeal of my life."
The following year he was admitted several times for complications stemming from Covid.
Berlusconi had open heart surgery in 2016 and surgery on his intestine three years later.
His Forza Italia party is part of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's coalition, but he does not have a role in government.
"Sincere and affectionate wishes for a speedy recovery to Silvio Berlusconi," Meloni wrote on Twitter, adding: "Forza Silvio (Come on Silvio)."
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Berlusconi was diagnosed with leukaemia a day after being admitted to intensive care, according to sources cited by news agency Reuters on Thursday.
The 86-year-old billionaire media mogul was being treated in a cardiac unit at Milan's San Raffaele hospital after being admitted on Wednesday, reportedly with breathing problems.
READ ALSO: Former Italian PM Berlusconi in intensive care in hospital
There has been no official comment on his condition, but the diagnosis of leukaemia, which is a cancer of the blood cells, was confirmed to Reuters by a source close to Berlusconi following a report in Italy's Corriere della Sera newspaper.
"We're all very worried," Deputy Culture Minister Vittorio Sgarbi, Berlusconi's close friend, said Thursday.
"I hope he has the strength in him to resist this latest attack, which now has a sinister name, leukaemia."
Berlusconi started chemotherapy treatment on Wednesday after hospitalisation, according to Corriere, and he is reportedly in a "stable" condition after spending the night in hospital.
Berlusconi's spokesman Paolo Russo said he was not authorised to give health information, but "the Corriere della Sera is the most authoritative Italian newspaper".
As close family members arrived at the hospital, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said he had spoken to Berlusconi's doctor, who told him "his condition is stable"
He also said Berlusconi was feeling well enough to be making phone calls.
The leader of the right-wing Forza Italia party, Berlusconi spent four days last month at the same hospital for what Italian news reports called heart issues, before being discharged on March 30th.
After dominating Italian politics for two decades, Berlusconi now appears visibly diminished on the rare occasions he is seen in public.
Berlusconi was in hospital for 11 days for Covid-related pneumonia in September 2020, after contracting the virus while on holiday in Sardinia, describing it as "perhaps the most difficult ordeal of my life."
The following year he was admitted several times for complications stemming from Covid.
Berlusconi had open heart surgery in 2016 and surgery on his intestine three years later.
His Forza Italia party is part of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's coalition, but he does not have a role in government.
"Sincere and affectionate wishes for a speedy recovery to Silvio Berlusconi," Meloni wrote on Twitter, adding: "Forza Silvio (Come on Silvio)."
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