Pagets Disease MedPix Topic 2602

Description: Paget's Disease Topic 2602 - Created: 2001-07-27 05:09:01-04 - Modified: 2002-04-30 23:00:33-04 ACR Index: 4.2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Paget’s disease most commonly occurs in England, Australia, New Zealand, Scandanavia, Canada and the northern U.S. The average age of onset is between 50 and 55 years. It is twice as common in men as women. The cause is unknown. Pathologically, it is characterized by destruction of bone (lysis) followed by attempts at repair (blastic) which are often disorganized. Paget’s disease may affect any bone in the body. It may affect a single bone and never extend to others, or it may spread. In order of frequency, the following bones are affected: pelvis, vertebrae, femur, skull, tibia, clavicle, humerus, ribs, and rarely the sternum, calcaneous, talus, phalanges, metatarsals, mandible, patella, and other sesamoid bones. Only 20% of the patients are symptomatic, usually complaining of ill-defined pain at the site. Characteristically, there is an elevation of alkaline phosphatase (15-20x normal). Serum calcium and phosphorous are usually normal, but serum calcium may be elevated in an immobilized patient.