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Diagnosis | Osteitis deformans or Paget's disease of bone

Lab Animal volume 37, pages 450–451 (2008)Cite this article

We believe the rat had osteitis deformans2, also known as Paget's disease. This bone disease has been previously reported in humans3, rodents4 and dogs5 and is described as an acquired disorder of unknown etiology. It is characterized by destruction and formation of bone with emphasis upon the replacement of normal bone by expanded soft, poorly mineralized osteoid matrix. The newly formed bone is imperfect and compensates by bulking, which results in enlargement2.

We believe that in our rat this diagnosis can be validated by simple clinical inspection, given the deformities observed in the skull. But the pathognomonic feature of osteitis deformans must be seen on histology. It has been described as a tile-like or 'mosaic' pattern observed in both the cortical and cancellous regions of the affected bones, which accounts for the softening, porosity and subperiosteal new bone formation and contributes to the abnormal structural integrity. Numerous osteoblasts and osteoclasts are present and have been interpreted as exaggerated functional activity2.

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Figure 3: Diagrams (dorsal view) of the skulls of (a) a normal rat and (b) the rat with snout deviation, which we believe was affected with osteitis deformans.

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Diagnosis | Osteitis deformans or Paget's disease of bone. Lab Anim 37, 450–451 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/laban1008-450

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