Paget's Disease of Bone
Symptoms and Complications
Symptoms
Many people don't know they have Paget's disease because they have a mild case of the disease and do not have any symptoms. However, people with more advanced cases of the disease will likely have symptoms. Symptoms vary depending on which bone or bones are affected.
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People with Paget's disease may experience
- bone pain
- misshapen bones
- fractures
- osteoarthritis of the joints adjacent to bone affected by the disease.
Paget's disease can also cause a variety of neurological complications as a result of compression of nerve tissue by bone affected by the disease.
Misshapen bone is most obvious when the leg bones, skull, or bones of the spine are affected. Leg bones may become bowed, the skull may become enlarged, and malformed spinal bones may cause curvature of the spine.
Complications
People with Paget's disease also are more likely to break bones because bones affected by the disease are more fragile.
Enlarged and malformed bones can distort the position of bones and joints. This causes wear and tear on the joints next to bones affected by Paget's disease, resulting in arthritis.
On very rare occasions, Paget's disease is linked to the development of osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer. Less than one percent of patients have this complication.
