A 70-year-old male patient with no previous history of cardiovascular complaints was referred to the emergency department due to progressively aggravating dyspnoea and diminishing functional capacity (starting 12 months before) and abnormal findings in a chest x-ray suggesting possible expansion of the thoracic aorta (figure 1). One month before admission, the patient started complaining about dizziness and dyspnoea induced by the upright position and relieved by recumbency – platypnoea. He denied orthopnoea, paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnoea or angina. He had …