Endoscopic appearance and significance of functional lymphangiectasia of the duodenal mucosa. Intestinal lymphangiectasia is found in a wide variety of pathologic conditions. Functional lymphangiectasia has not been well characterized. We report 20 patients followed for 9 to 55 months (mean 30 months) after incidental detection at endoscopy of lymphangiectasia. Our study indicates that functional lymphangiectasia is not pathologic and does not warrant repeat endoscopy in the absence of other clinical indications. 