Headache and Status Epilepticus Reveal Paget’s Disease of the Bone

Abstract

Paget's disease of the bone (PDB) is a benign osteodystrophy of the elderly characterized by excessive remodeling of bone tissue, mainly in the pelvis, femur, and skull. Its neurological manifestations are numerous and affect both the central and peripheral nervous systems. As headaches are often reported, epileptic seizures remain exceptional. We report the case of a 75-year-old female patient with a history of chronic worsening headache who was admitted to the emergency department for the first episode of a seizure. Brain imaging revealed heterogeneous bone thickening and circumscribed skull osteoporosis. Bone scintigraphy showed pagetoid lesions restricted to the skull and face. Alkaline phosphatases increased. The rest of the biological work-up and the cerebrospinal fluid study ruled out other metabolic causes or central nervous system infections. The patient was treated with bisphosphonates and anti-convulsive treatment. The evolution was satisfactory, with progressive improvement in headache and seizure control, even several months after discontinuation of anti-seizure medication. Our case report highlights the importance of exploring chronic headaches in the elderly, not only in search of lesions of the cerebral parenchyma but also of the structures containing them, in this case, the skull.