We present a 61-year-old woman with hypovolemic shock due to a ruptured aneurysm of the superior posterior pancreatic-duodenal artery in whom recurrent syncopes were the first presenting sign of pancreatic-duodenal artery aneurysm (PDAA). PDAA is a rare but life-threatening condition. The widely varying symptomatology may lead to a delay in diagnosis and treatment. Patients with atypical symptoms, such as vague abdominal pain, recurrent dizziness or syncope, may actually suffer from a sentinel bleeding of the vascular malformation. Radiological imaging, especially selective angiography, may provide a diagnostic as well as a therapeutic tool in these patients.