THE SIDELINES : Lemieux Condition Disputed

Mario Lemieux is undergoing treatment for a rare, potentially career-threatening bone infection that can cause severe pain, but is recovering quickly and should play again, his doctor said today.

Dr. Charles Burke, the Pittsburgh Penguins’ orthopedist, said “it is way too early” to speculate Lemieux’s career is in danger and challenged published reports the All-Star center has a potentially serious bone disease.

In a copyright story today, The Pittsburgh Press quoted doctors who said the two-time NHL scoring champion has a form of vertebral osteomyelitis, which damages the bony portion of the spine. The disease can cause debilitating, even crippling pain.

Osteomyelitis can be serious, but Burke has hesitated to use the formal name because, he said, “It’s isn’t a disease, it’s an infection. Mario has what we’ve said all along, a disk infection that has affected the bone. Nothing has changed.”