An unusual and life-threatening cause of epigastric pain presenting to the general surgical team: a case report

As general surgeons, we are regularly referred patients with epigastric pain. There are a huge number of common pathologies which cause this complaint, most of which are gastrointestinal in origin. Although the old adage goes ’common things are common’, we must always keep our minds open to the possibility of the uncommon and not miss warning signs which are present in the history or examination. We present the case of a 59-year-old woman with a ruptured sinus of Valsalva aneurysm presenting to the accident and emergency department as epigastric pain.