Doctor says former Italian prime minister "risked dying."
Former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi is to undergo heart surgery next week for a malfunctioning aortic valve that could have killed him, according to his doctor.
The 79-year-old billionaire insisted on casting his vote in Rome's local elections before presenting himself at the hospital in Milan on 5 June.
However Berlusconi's Forza Italia candidate for mayor of Rome, Alfio Marchini, polled so poorly that he failed to make it to the second-round ballot on 19 June.