Silvio Berlusconi to have heart surgery

Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is to have heart surgery after an attack that could have killed him, his doctor says. The 79-year-old will undergo surgery by the middle of next week to replace a defective aortic valve, Alberto Zangrillo told reporters in Rome. Berlusconi served as prime minister four times but has since […]

Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is to have heart surgery after an attack that could have killed him, his doctor says.
The 79-year-old will undergo surgery by the middle of next week to replace a defective aortic valve, Alberto Zangrillo told reporters in Rome.
Berlusconi served as prime minister four times but has since been convicted of tax fraud and bribery.
His political influence has waned since he left office in 2011. Dr Zangrillo said Berlusconi had “arrived at the hospital in a severe state”.
“He risked his life, he risked dying and he knew it… We have identified in an exact and certain way a pathology of aortic valve that is called aortic insufficiency,” the doctor said.