* Former PM says eye problems prevent attendance at trial * Three doctors, including top eye specialist, make checks * Berlusconi charged with paying for sex with minor * "Ruby" trial was meant to start on Monday MILAN, March 11 (Reuters) - Italian judges ordered checks to be made on former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi on Monday to verify his claim that health problems meant he was unable to attend his trial on charges of paying for sex with a minor.

A court in Milan on Monday ordered medical checks for Silvio Berlusconi to verify whether the hospitalised former Italian prime minister is really unable to attend hearings in his trial for having sex with an underage prostitute and abuse of power. The trial had already been suspended on Friday because the 76-year-old Berlusconi said he was suffering from an eye infection. His lawyers have asked for Monday's hearing to be postponed too.

(Fixes typo in paragraph 10) MILAN, March 9 (Reuters) - Milan court doctors ruled on Saturday that Silvio Berlusconi was able to attend a tax fraud appeal, rejecting the former prime minister's complaint that an eye condition prevented him leaving hospital. The 76-year-old centre-right leader and media mogul faces a spate of trials this month as he fights for his political future following the inconclusive national election.

A hearing in Silvio Berlusconi's trial for having sex with an underage prostitute and abuse of office was postponed Friday after the billionaire tycoon complained of an eye infection. Judges in Milan said the final arguments by prosecutors in the trial, which began in 2011, would be laid out on Monday instead as the trial moves towards a possible verdict this month. The former prime minister has been suffering from uveitis -- an inflammation of the eye -- for days and was also forced to cancel a meeting scheduled for Friday with outgoing premier Mario Monti.