Silvio Berlusconi is to undergo surgery to treat a life-threatening heart condition, according to the AC Milan president's doctor.
Berlusconi's personal physician Dr. Alberto Zangrillo said the failure of an aortic valve put the 79-year-old in serious danger last Sunday and he ignored doctor's orders to go to hospital immediately because of his plans to vote in local elections.
"Berlusconi risked dying," Zangrillo told a news conference. "He arrived at hospital in a serious, worrying condition -- and he knew it. He was aware that his heart was in acute crisis. He is going to undergo surgery to replace his aortic valve.
"The examinations which continued up to yesterday have allowed us to identify precisely and certainly the problem, which is known as aortic insufficiency. In this case, the only way to correct it is by replacing the aortic valve with a surgical intervention."
Without surgery, Zangrillo says there is a 10 percent chance of the former Italian Prime Minister dying within a year, while there is a chance of less than three percent that the surgery will fail.
"Berlusconi is a person who wants to reach the age of 130," he added. "At the start, he did not want to believe it. Then he's taken it with great courage and determination. He's a man who, once the news had sunk in, did not have the slightest doubt and has put his entire faith in us."
Berlusconi will undergo a four-hour procedure in the coming days at the intensive care unit of the San Raffaele hospital in Milan. He will subsequently spend two to three days in hospital under observation.
His illness will only further delay negotiations to sell the Rossoneri to a group of Chinese investors, whose period of exclusivity for the acquisition of the club is set to expire next week.