Pope Francis has gone to Rome's Gemelli hospital for a check-up. Earlier this year the pope, 86, spent five days in hospital with a lung infection and last month had to skip audiences due to a fever.

Pope Francis appears in good form a day after he went to the hospital for a checkup. Francis presided over his weekly general audience Wednesday.

The Vatican said Francis, 86, would be put under general anesthesia and would be hospitalized for several days.

Pope Francis, 86, spent around 40 minutes at Rome's Gemelli hospital having a check-up on Tuesday before returning to the Vatican, Italian media reported. Francis went to a department in the hospital specialised in treating elderly patients and arrived at 1040 local time (0840 GMT) before being driven away at around 1120,