“Over the past 48 hours there has been a progressive and steady improvement in the functionality of organs being monitored,” doctors Alberto Zangrillo and Fabio Ciceri said in a bulletin.

The 86-year-old billionaire media tycoon was rushed to Milan’s San Raffaele hospital on Wednesday and treated in its intensive care unit, triggering speculation that his life might be in danger and drawing a stream of family and friends to his bedside.

Doctors later revealed that Berlusconi had been suffering from Chronic Myelomonocytic Leukaemia (CML) “for some time” and that he had recently developed a pulmonary infection.

“Cytoreductive, antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory therapies are producing the expected results, allowing us to express a cautious optimism,” Zangrillo and Ciceri said.

Berlusconi remains in San Raffaele’s intensive care unit, they added.