Paget's disease of bone: experiences with 100 patients treated with salmon calcitonin

ONe hundred patients with Paget's disease of bone were treated with salmon calcitonin. Seventy per cent of patients who presented with pain reported improvement of symptoms. Side effects which occurred in 53 patients were more severe in women, necessitating the withdrawal of therapy in 30% of women as against 7.5% of men. Five of the patients with intolerable side effects were subsequently able to tolerate porcine calcitonin, while six were unable to tolerate salmon, porcine or human calcitonin. No audiological improvement occurred. Aortic valve lesions were detected in 11 patients. After a mean treatment period of 7.8 months, serum alkaline phosphatase level was reduced by 39.3%. Total 24-hour urinary hydroxyproline was reduced by 46.1% after 11.2 months of treatment.