Paget, James (1814–1899)

English surgeon, one of the founders of pathology. He described two conditions now named after him: Paget's disease of the nipple and Paget's disease of the bone.

Paget was born in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, and studied at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London. He was one of the original 300 fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 1843, and was professor there 1847–52. Having tended the Princess of Wales in 1878, he was appointed surgeon extraordinary to Queen Victoria, and was created baronet in 1871.

Paget's disease of the nipple was described in 1874 and is an eczematous skin eruption that indicates an underlying carcinoma of the breast, although the eruption is not simply an extension of the cancer cells inside the breast.

When Paget described the disease of the bone in 1877, he referred to it as osteitis deformans. This implies an inflammation of the bone, which is not accurate, and it is now called osteodystrophia deformans. This condition can affect the elderly. The bones soften, giving rise to deformity of the limbs, which may also fracture easily. If the skull is affected, bony changes cause enlargement of the head, and pressure on the VIIIth cranial nerve can cause deafness.