People should seek medical care if they have increasing pain or dysfunction related to Paget disease. Also, people with weakness or a change in bowel or bladder function should seek immediate care to assess for involvement of the spine leading to compression of the spinal cord and nerve roots.
Questions to Ask the Doctor
People with Paget disease should inquire if they would benefit from medication . Additionally, patients should be periodically seen by their physician throughout their lives due to the low risk of malignant transformation to sarcoma.
Follow-up
Due to the small risk of malignant transformation (formation of bone tumors) associated with Paget disease, patients should see their physicians periodically throughout their lives.
Prevention
No measures are currently known to prevent Paget disease.
Outlook
For most people, medical treatment of Paget disease can effectively control symptoms, and patients can remain pain free. A small portion of patients can develop more severe symptoms as stated above, including deafness, congestive heart failure, fractures, arthritis, and development of bone tumors (sarcomas). These complications are rare. Most patients remain symptom free and pain free.