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The 86-year-old billionaire media tycoon has suffered repeated
bouts of ill-health in recent years and came out of hospital
just last week.
Berlusconi's Forza Italia party is part of Prime Minister
Giorgia Meloni's right-wing coalition although he does not have
a role in government.
Berlusconi, who made his fortune through his television channels
before entering politics, had heart surgery in 2016 and has also
had prostate cancer. He has been repeatedly admitted to hospital
over the past couple of years after contracting COVID-19 in
2020.
Three sources from Berlusconi's Forza Italia party said he was
in intensive care, and one of them confirmed Italian media
reports that he was being treated in a cardiac unit. Another of
the sources said the situation was "under control".
San Raffaele Hospital did not immediately respond to a request
for comment.
Berlusconi, who sits in the Senate (upper house) of the Italian
parliament, has stirred controversy in recent months with his
criticism of Ukraine's President Volodymir Zelenskiy, putting
him at odds with Meloni.
An Italian court acquitted Berlusconi in February over
allegations of paying witnesses to lie in an underage
prostitution case that has dogged the former prime minister for
more than a decade.
Berlusconi was accused of bribing 24 people, mostly young,
female guests at his so-called Bunga Bunga parties, in a
previous trial where he was charged with paying for sex with a
17-year-old Moroccan nightclub dancer.
(Reporting by Angelo Amante, writing by Gavin Jones and Keith
Weir, editing by Crispian Balmer and Angus MacSwan)
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