Echocardiography of sinus of Valsalva aneurysm with rupture into the right atrium

Before the advent of modern techniques, diagnosing unruptured sinus of Valsalva aneurysm in the living patient was rare, with most of the reports coming from autopsy or surgery. Once rupture occurs however, characteristic symptoms and signs, such as precordial distress, a continuous murmur over the base of the heart, pulmonary congestion, and congestive heart failure, usually occur rather abruptly. We describe a case of ruptured aneurysm of the non-coronary sinus of Valsalva diagnosed by transthoracic echocardiography and Doppler as a single examination for quickly establishing a correct diagnosis in patients with a new continuous murmur.