Former president Ciampi 'improved' after 18-day health scare

(ANSA) - Bolzano, July 29 - Doctors treating former Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi said Tuesday that he was in improved condition nearly three weeks after he was taken seriously ill.
    Ciampi, 93, was rushed by helicopter to hospital in Bolzano, capital of the mountainous region of Alto Adige on July 11.
    He was placed on life support systems after suffering an attack of high blood pressure while holidaying at the Villa Ausserer as a guest of Italy's crack Alpine troops' local commanding officer.
    The Senator underwent an operation to have his appendix removed and was kept under observation in Bolzano hospital's intensive care unit.
    A medical bulletin by the director of the hospital, Umberto Tait, said Ciampi had passed a tranquil night and that his heart, breathing and metabolic parameters are improving.