Silvio Berlusconi, 86 years old and three times Italian prime minister, has been diagnosed with leukemia, according to a source close to the matter, thus confirming what was previously reported by the Corriere della Sera newspaper.
The leader of Forza Italia spent the night at the San Raffaele hospital in Milan in intensive care and a medical report is expected today, while on Wednesday he received a visit from his brother Paolo and his children.
At first there was talk of a hospitalization for heart problems and later pneumonia, but the Corriere della Sera reports this Thursday that Belrusconi suffers from leukemia, which was what caused his admission a few days ago.
"He is stable, he is a rock. His mood? Ours is good. He will also get out of this", were the words of his brother Paolo after having visited him in the hospital.
The 86-year-old president of Forza Italia is in the general and cardiothoracic intensive care unit run by Professor Alberto Zangrillo, who has been his personal doctor for years and who today may give a medical report although his family has opted for maintaining the privacy of Berlusconi's state of health, according to some media.
"He is in intensive care because a previous problem related to an infection had not been resolved. But he speaks and is awake," explained the national coordinator of Forza Italia, Antonio Tajani.
His current partner, the deputy from his party Marta Fascina accompanied him to the hospital and has not left him for a moment. On Wednesday afternoon, her five children and the spokesperson for Forza Italia in the Senate, Licia Ronzulli, arrived.
During the day, messages from all the political leaders arrived: "Forza Silvio", the Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, wrote on her social networks; "Forza Silvio, Italy awaits you", wrote the Minister of Infrastructure, Matteo Salvini, but also opposition members such as Matteo Renzi (Italia Viva), Carlo Calenda (Action) and Francesco Boccia (Democratic Party) who wanted the "Cavaliere" a quick recovery.
The leader of Forza Italia was already hospitalized in that Milanese hospital from Monday to Thursday to undergo some "medical checks", as they explained.
Berlusconi, whose formation is currently part of the ruling coalition led by the far-right Giorgia Meloni, has had a pacemaker implanted since 2006 and has health problems.
In 2020 he was admitted with coronavirus and bilateral pneumonia in San Rafael, although he was discharged a few days later, although since then he has repeatedly visited the hospital. The last one, also at the San Rafael hospital, was in January 2022 due to a urinary tract infection.
