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MILAN - Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, who had a heart scare last month, has arrived in the United States on Sunday for medical checks, his spokesman said.
A close political ally had earlier said Berlusconi, 70, would undergo surgery there.
Berlusconi's spokesman Paolo Bonaiuti told ANSA news agency that the billionaire media tycoon was in the United States "for scheduled medical checks", without giving more details.
There has been intense media speculation in Italy that Berlusconi, who was hospitalised for three days after collapsing at a rally late last month, may have to be fitted with a pacemaker.
His doctors identified an irregular heartbeat but said there was no reason for concern.
Earlier Umberto Bossi, leader of the Northern League party in Berlusconi's centre-right opposition, told a rally in Milan: "Berlusconi has decided to go and have surgery in the United States."
"Let's give him a warm applause. If he can hear us cheering from Milan, probably his recovery will be quicker," he said.
Berlusconi last week confirmed that he planned a trip but did not say where exactly he would go or why. On Saturday he said he would be "back in Rome next week, because I have work to do".
- REUTERS
