Paget's disease

Abstract

The entity now called Paget's disease was first described by Wilkes in 1869, with a further case reported by Czerny in 1873. In 1876, Sir James Paget gave a complete and accurate description of the disease that now bears his name. He called this slowly progressive entity 'osteitis deformans', thinking a chronic inflammatory process led to the deformity. There is now sufficient evidence to suggest that the disorder dates back thousands of years. Pagetic changes have been noted in the skull of a Neanderthal man and in a skeleton in an ancient Egyptian tomb. Clinical features and treatment are discussed.