Italy's Berlusconi health conditions steadily improving, his doctors say

FILE PHOTO: Former Italian Prime Minister and leader of the Forza Italia (Go Italy!) party Silvio Berlusconi attends a rally in Rome, Italy, April 9, 2022. REUTERS/Remo Casilli

Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's health condition is steadily improving as he is treated in hospital for a lung infection caused by chronic leukaemia, his doctors said on Monday.

"Over the past 48 hours there has been a progressive and steady improvement in the functionality of organs being monitored," doctors Alberto Zangrillo and Fabio Ciceri said in a bulletin.

The 86-year-old billionaire media tycoon was rushed to Milan's San Raffaele hospital on Wednesday and treated in its intensive care unit, triggering speculation that his life might be in danger and drawing a stream of family and friends to his bedside.

FILE PHOTO: Forza Italia leader Silvio Berlusconi gestures during the closing electoral campaign rally of the centre-right's coalition in Piazza del Popolo, ahead of the September 25 general election, in Rome, Italy, September 22, 2022. REUTERS/Yara Nardi

Doctors later revealed that Berlusconi had been suffering from Chronic Myelomonocytic Leukaemia (CML) "for some time" and that he had recently developed a pulmonary infection.

"Cytoreductive, antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory therapies are producing the expected results, allowing us to express a cautious optimism," Zangrillo and Ciceri said.

Berlusconi remains in San Raffaele's intensive care unit, they added.

(Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari; Editing by Angus MacSwan)