Sonography of intestinal lymphangiectasia.

Real-time ultrasonography was used to evaluate three pediatric patients with biopsy-proven intestinal lymphangiectasia. The sonographic findings were ascites, diffuse bowel wall thickening, mesenteric edema, dilated mesenteric lymphatics, and thickened walls of the gallbladder and urinary bladder. Recognition of the sonographic pattern of intestinal lymphangiectasia is useful since ultrasonography is often the first imaging examination performed in children with abdominal disorders.