Former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi has undergone a series of medical examinations in a Milan hospital, a spokesman has confirmed.
This comes the day after the centre-right political leader and media tycoon took his name out of contention to be Italy’s next president.
Italian media reported that Mr Berlusconi had been admitted to San Raffaele hospital, where his physician works, but the spokesman said he had been in and out of the hospital for a series of exams and a check-up.
Mr Berlusconi, 85, recovered from Covid-19 in 2020 and was in hospital last spring for the treatment of complications related to the virus.
He spent 10 days being treated at San Raffaele Hospital for Covid-19 in September 2020. He told reporters after being discharged that the disease had been “insidious” and was the most dangerous challenge he had ever faced.
Besides being in a vulnerable age group, Mr Berlusconi has a heart condition that prompted him to have a pacemaker fitted several years ago.
Mr Berlusconi has reluctantly withdrawn his candidacy to succeed Sergio Mattarella as Italy’s head of state, a largely ceremonial post that also requires political acumen and constitutional knowledge to steer Italy through its not infrequent political crises.
