ROME (AP) — Former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi was hospitalized Wednesday, his spokesman said. Italian media reported he was in intensive care with respiratory problems.

The 86-year-old three-time premier was admitted to Milan’s San Raffaele hospital, the clinic where he routinely receives care, said spokesman Paolo Emilio Russo. There was no confirmation of reports from the LaPresse news agency, Sky TG24 and Corriere della Sera that he was in the cardiac ICU.

Berlusconi has had a series of health problems in recent years, most significantly recovering from COVID-19 in 2020. He told reporters after being discharged from a 10-day hospital stay then that disease had been “insidious” and was the most dangerous challenge he had ever faced.

He has had a pacemaker for years, underwent heart surgery to replace an aortic valve in 2016 and has overcome prostate cancer.

Berlusconi had been to San Raffaele, where his personal physician works, for a regular checkup for several days just last week. In a March 31 tweet after he returned home, Berlusconi thanked “all those who wanted to send a thought or sign of affection in these days.”

He said he was already back at work “ready and determined to commit myself as I've always done to the country I love.”