[Treatment of Paget's disease with salmon thyrocalcitonin. Cooperative double-blind study]

Forty six patients suffering from Paget's disease in acute exacerbation were treated for three months with 80 u/day of synthetic salmon thyrocalcitonin. A control group of 36 patients received a placebo. A marked improvement in pain was seen in 60% of the treated patients and 15% of the placebo group (p less than 0.001). Functional impairment, when present, was also far more markedly decreased in the treated group (p less than 0.01). In comparison with the control group, the fall in hydroxyprolinuria and alkaline phosphatase levels was highly significant (p less than 0.001). This treatment is active against not only symptoms and signs, but also the biological criteria of activity of the disease. The side-effects of treatment consist above all of hot flashes (35% of cases) and nausea (24%). In only one case was it necessary to stop treatment because of intractable diarrhoea.