New hair transplant for Berlusconi

Aug 2005

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has undergone a new hair transplant, one year after a successful first operation, Italian newspapers said.

Speculation about Berlusconi's hair first surfaced in August last year when he was seen sporting a rapper-style bandana when welcoming British Prime Minister Tony Blair to his palatial vacation residence in Sardinia.

The mystery was explained days later when plastic surgeon Piero Rosati told an Italian paper that he had performed a hair transplant on the Italian prime minister, who turns 69 next month, but that he would require a second operation.

The Italian press Saturday said Berlusconi arrived at Rosati's office on Friday, one year to the day after the first operation, which involves transplanting some of Berlusconi's own hair from one part of his head to the other.

This time, journalists saw him enter and leave with his head bandaged. He then left for Sardinia to continue his vacation.

In late 2003, Berlusconi also underwent facial plastic surgery, which he described as a slight readjustment to his eyelids.