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Italy's Berlusconi to undergo heart surgery

Xinhua, June 10, 2016 Adjust font size:

Italy's former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi will undergo heart surgery next week to rectify a problem with his aortic valve, local media said on Thursday.

"Berlusconi risked dying: he arrived at the hospital in a very serious condition. His life was in danger and he was aware about this," his physician Alberto Zangrillo was quoted by Corriere della Sera newspaper as saying at a press conference held in Milan, Berlusconi's hometown.

Zangrillo said that a series of cardiovascular checks enabled physicians to identify a "severe aortic insufficiency," and the only way to solve the problem will be "to substitute the aortic valve" during a surgery estimated to last around four hours.

Berlusconi, 79, was admitted at the Milan's San Raffaele hospital earlier this week with "cardiac deficiency" after feeling unwell in the night between Saturday and Sunday.

"I talked with him on Sunday morning, and I told him that he should come here. But he partly disobeyed and only arrived in the afternoon, as he first wanted to vote in Sunday's local elections," he added.

Zangrillo reportedly said that his patient first refused the idea of being operated, but then accepted the diagnosis "with great courage and determination." He noted that at least 10 percent of patients with disease of the aortic valve die within a year unless they undergo surgery.

After the operation, Berlusconi, who has had ongoing heart problems since 2006 and uses a pacemaker, will spend one or two days in intensive care before starting a period of rehabilitation that could last about a month, the doctor explained.

The leader of Italy's center-right, Berlusconi has led the country as prime minister three times between 1994 and 2011, but his political influence has declined since he stepped down amid accusations of fraud, corruption and sex scandals.

In March 2015, Berlusconi ended his one-year sentence of social service helping the elderly and the disabled. He was sentenced to jail for inflating prices in the purchase of movie rights for his media company, but was too old to go to jail under Italian legal practice. Endit