PAGET'S DISEASE OF BONE

also called Osteitis Deformans, moderately common chronic disease of middle age, characterized by local disorganized bone-destructive processes alternating with bone-constructive activity. The disease leads to deformity, fracture, and imbalance in calcium metabolism and carries with it an increased risk of cancer, particularly osteosarcoma. The long bones, vertebrae, pelvis, and skull are most commonly affected, in men more often than in women. In the bone-destructive stages, bones soften and become a site for the pooling of blood, which may lead to heart or circulatory trouble; calcium builds up in the blood as it is lost from bones, sometimes resulting in kidney stones or systemic calcium poisoning. In bone-constructive stages, bones are dense and brittle and fracture easily. There is no generally accepted treatment for the disease, which is named for Sir James Paget, who first described it.