SILVIO Berlusconi’s health has shown “steady improvement” in the past three days although the Italian former prime minister will remain in intensive care, his doctors said Thursday.

Berlusconi, 86, has been in intensive care at Milan’s San Raffaele hospital since last Wednesday. Doctors revealed today he has leukaemia and is suffering from a lung infection.

“Over the past 72 hours, there has been further steady improvement in respiratory and renal function, with effective containment of leukocytosis and inflammatory syndrome,” doctors Alberto Zangrillo and Fabio Ciceri wrote in a short bulletin. 

Leukocytosis refers to a high white blood cell count, which can be a symptom of blood cancers.

“The overall clinical picture indicates continued intensive care,” they said.

On Monday, the doctors expressed “cautious optimism”, saying that Berlusconi’s condition had shown steady improvement over the weekend.

Last week they revealed that Berlusconi was suffering from chronic myelomonocytic leukaemia (CMML), a rare type of blood cancer affecting mainly older adults.

The three-time prime minister and billionaire media magnate has dominated Italian public life for decades.

Berlusconi is currently a senator and his right-wing Forza Italia party is part of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s coalition government, although he rarely appears in public.

He has been in and out of hospital in recent years, notably after contracting Covid in 2020. – AFP, April 13, 2023.