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Despite growing interest from both patients and healthcare providers, there is little clinical guidance on how mobile apps should be utilized to add value to patient care. We categorize apps according to their functionality (e.g. preventative behavior change, digital self-management of a specific condition, diagnostic) and discuss evidence for effectiveness from published systematic reviews and meta-analyses and the relevance to patient care. We discuss the limitations of the current literature describing clinical outcomes from mHealth apps, what FDA clearance means now (510(k)/de novo FDA clearance) and in the future. We discuss data security and privacy as a major concern for patients when using mHealth apps. Patients are often not involved in the development of mobile health guidelines, and professionals’ views regarding high-quality health apps may not reflect patients’ views. We discuss efforts to develop guidelines for the development of safe and effective mHealth apps in the US and elsewhere and the role of independent app reviews sites in identifying mHealth apps for patient care. There are only a small number of clinical scenarios where published evidence suggests that mHealth apps may improve patient outcomes.

The use of apps that record detailed menstrual cycle data presents a new opportunity to study the menstrual cycle. The aim of this study is to describe menstrual cycle characteristics observed from a large database of cycles collected through an app and investigate associations of menstrual cycle characteristics with cycle length, age and body mass index (BMI). Menstrual cycle parameters, including menstruation, basal body temperature (BBT) and luteinising hormone (LH) tests as well as age and BMI were collected anonymously from real-world users of the Natural Cycles app. We analysed 612,613 ovulatory cycles with a mean length of 29.3 days from 124,648 users. The mean follicular phase length was 16.9 days (95% CI: 10–30) and mean luteal phase length was 12.4 days (95% CI: 7–17). Mean cycle length decreased by 0.18 days (95% CI: 0.17–0.18, R 2  = 0.99) and mean follicular phase length decreased by 0.19 days (95% CI: 0.19–0.20, R 2  = 0.99) per year of age from 25 to 45 years. Mean variation of cycle length per woman was 0.4 days or 14% higher in women with a BMI of over 35 relative to women with a BMI of 18.5–25. This analysis details variations in menstrual cycle characteristics that are not widely known yet have significant implications for health and well-being. Clinically, women who wish to plan a pregnancy need to have intercourse on their fertile days. In order to identify the fertile period it is important to track physiological parameters such as basal body temperature and not just cycle length.

The association between increasing body weight and colorectal adenoma prevalence has been suggested to follow a similar pattern to excess weight and colorectal cancer, although the magnitude of this relationship has not been validated. The objective of this study was to quantify the association and dose-response relationship between body mass index (BMI) and colorectal adenoma prevalence in clinical trials. We systematically reviewed 23 studies (168,201 participants), which compared the prevalence of colorectal adenomas according to World Health Organization BMI categories. We assessed the effects of each BMI category on colorectal adenomas where odds ratio (OR) was used as a surrogate for effect size, and applied multivariate meta-analysis as a method of sensitivity analysis to evaluate the robustness of our findings and to analyze adenoma prevalence by multiple BMI categories simultaneously to assess for a dose-response relationship. Heterogeneity and publication bias were assessed. Subjects with a BMI of ≥25 had a significantly higher prevalence of colorectal adenomas (OR=1.24 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.16-1.33), P<0.01) when compared with those with BMI<25. Multivariate meta-analysis also confirmed a positive association between higher BMI categories and the prevalence of colorectal adenoma (BMI: 25-30 vs. BMI<25; OR=1.21 (95% CI: 1.07-1.38), P<0.01; BMI≥30 vs. BMI<25; OR=1.32 (95% CI: 1.18-1.48), P<0.01) and revealed a dose-response relationship. The positive association between obesity and colorectal adenoma prevalence demonstrates an underlying dose-response relationship according to BMI. Colorectal centers may benefit from the timely screening of obese patients for colorectal adenomas in addition to clarifying the biological role of adiposity on colorectal tumor initiation and progression.

Medical professionals are increasingly required to use digital technologies as part of care delivery and this may represent a risk for medical error and subsequent malpractice liability. For example, if there is a medical error, should the error be attributed to the clinician or the artificial intelligence-based clinical decision-making system? In this article, we identify and discuss digital health technology-specific risks for malpractice liability and offer practical advice for the mitigation of malpractice risk.

Background Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is a well-recognised complication of obesity. Non-surgical weight loss (medical, behavioural and lifestyle interventions) may improve OSA outcomes, although long-term weight control remains challenging. Bariatric surgery offers a successful strategy for long-term weight loss and symptom resolution. Objectives To comparatively appraise bariatric surgery vs. non-surgical weight loss interventions in OSA treatment utilising body mass index (BMI) and apnoea-hypopnoea index (AHI) as objective measures of weight loss and apnoea severity. Methods A systematic literature review revealed 19 surgical ( n  = 525) and 20 non-surgical ( n  = 825) studies reporting the primary endpoints of BMI and AHI before and after intervention. Data were meta-analysed using random effects modelling. Subgroup analysis, quality scoring and risk of bias were assessed. Results Surgical patients had a mean pre-intervention BMI of 51.3 and achieved a significant 14 kg/m 2 weighted decrease in BMI (95%CI [11.91, 16.44]), with a 29/h weighted decrease in AHI (95%CI [22.41, 36.74]). Non-surgical patients had a mean pre-intervention BMI of 38.3 and achieved a significant weighted decrease in BMI of 3.1 kg/m 2 (95%CI [2.42, 3.79]), with a weighted decrease in AHI of 11/h (95%CI [7.81, 14.98]). Heterogeneity was high across all outcomes. Conclusions Both bariatric surgery and non-surgical weight loss may have significant beneficial effects on OSA through BMI and AHI reduction. However, bariatric surgery may offer markedly greater improvement in BMI and AHI than non-surgical alternatives. Future studies must address the lack of randomised controlled and comparative trials in order to confirm the exact relationship between metabolic surgery and non-surgical weight loss interventions in OSA resolution.

Vancomycin-induced thrombocytopenia is a rare side effect of a commonly used drug that may cause life-threatening disease. A 51-year-old man was treated for an episode of acute severe alcohol-induced pancreatitis complicated by development of a peripancreatic fluid collection. He developed fever of unknown origin and was treated with intravenous vancomycin and piperacillin with tazobactam. On day 6 of vancomycin therapy his platelet count dropped to 46×109/L (237×109/L on day 1 of treatment) and by day 8 of therapy platelets had fallen to a nadir of 9×109/L. The patient at this stage displayed a florid purpuric rash and haematoma formation on attempted intravenous cannulation. A clinical diagnosis of vancomycin-induced thrombocytopaenia was made and the drug withdrawn. After 3 days a significant improvement in the platelet count was noted, rising to 56 × 109/L. Immunofluorescence testing (PIFT) ruled out teicoplanin and heparin as causes of drug-induced thrombocytopenia.

Robotic cardiac surgery utilizes the most advanced surgical technology to offer patients a minimally invasive alternative to open surgery in the treatment of a broad range of cardiac pathologies. Although robotics may offer substantial benefits to physicians, patients and healthcare institutions, there are important barriers to its adoption that includes inadequate funding, competition from alternate therapies and challenges in training. There is a growing body of evidence to demonstrate the efficacy of robotic cardiac surgery. Technological innovations are improving patient safety and expanding the indications for robotic cardiac surgery beyond the treatment of mitral valve and coronary artery disease. Robotic cardiac surgery is rapidly becoming a feasible, safe and effective option for the definitive treatment of cardiac disease in the context of 21st century challenges to healthcare provision such as diabetes, obesity and an aging population.

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Despite growing interest from both patients and healthcare providers, there is little clinical guidance on how mobile apps should be utilized to add value to patient care. We categorize apps according to their functionality (e.g. preventative behavior change, digital self-management of a specific condition, diagnostic) and discuss evidence for effectiveness from published systematic reviews and meta-analyses and the relevance to patient care. We discuss the limitations of the current literature describing clinical outcomes from mHealth apps, what FDA clearance means now (510(k)/de novo FDA clearance) and in the future. We discuss data security and privacy as a major concern for patients when using mHealth apps. Patients are often not involved in the development of mobile health guidelines, and professionals' views regarding high-quality health apps may not reflect patients' views. We discuss efforts to develop guidelines for the development of safe and effective mHealth apps in the US and elsewhere and the role of independent app reviews sites in identifying mHealth apps for patient care. There are only a small number of clinical scenarios where published evidence suggests that mHealth apps may improve patient outcomes.