Atypical multinucleated cells form in long-term marrow cultures from patients with Paget's disease

Paget's disease: current concepts

The curious geographic variations in the prevalence of Paget's disease remain unexplained and the viral hypothesis remains unproved. An association between transient hyperphosphataemia of infancy and subsequent Paget's disease has not been established. Some 5% of Pagetic patients have hyperparathyroidism although the mechanism of this apparent association remains unknown. Several agents are available for the medical treatment of Paget's disease but there is a lack of consensus concerning therapeutic aims.

Cellular immunodeficiency in Paget's disease of bone: changes induced by treatment with elcatonin

We have found a cellular immune defect (low CD4 T lymphocyte count, high CD8 T lymphocyte count and a low CD4/CD8 ratio) in 39 PDB patients. This finding is not correlated with the bone metabolic activity of the disease. There was an improvement in the cellular immune defect in fifteen patients after treatment with elcatonin. These changes could be related to the improvement in the metabolic derangement or else could be the consequence of an effect on altered immunity.