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Ivan Kristo, Martin Riegler, Sebastian F Schoppmann Upper-GI-Service, Gastroesophageal Tumor Unit, Department of Surgery, Comprehensive Cancer Center, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, AustriaWith interest we read the article by Jung et al1 published in the recent issue of the International Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. An important finding of the study was the positive correlation between symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), endoscopic signs for laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR), and COPD.1 COPD represents an increasing health burden.2,3 Owing to the symptoms, COPD impairs the productivity and life quality of those affected.2,3 Frequently, COPD requires chronic administration of cortisone therapy, which itself produces side effects impairing well being.4,5 The finding that COPD associates with LPR and GERD opens the trail for additional diagnostic and therapeutic considerations. View the original article by Jung et al

This article, published in the journal Endoscopy, presents a comparative study that benchmarks the performance of three different Computer-Aided Detection software (CADe) systems for colon polyp detection. The study found that all CADe systems had high sensitivity for polyp detection, ranging from 90% to 100%. However, there was a significant difference in the false positive rates (FPR) per frame, with some systems having a higher FPR than others. The study concludes that while CADe software performs better than endoscopists, there are significant differences between the CADe systems, with the most sensitive software also having the highest FPR. [Extracted from the article]

In recent years, the amount of data produced in the field of ART has increased exponentially. The diversity of data is large, ranging from videos to tabular data. At the same time, artificial intelligence (AI) is progressively used in medical practice and may become a promising tool to improve success rates with ART. AI models may compensate for the lack of objectivity in several critical procedures in fertility clinics, especially embryo and sperm assessments. Various models have been developed, and even though several of them show promising performance, there are still many challenges to overcome. In this review, we present recent research on AI in the context of ART. We discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the presented methods, especially regarding clinical relevance. We also address the pitfalls hampering successful use of AI in the clinic and discuss future possibilities and important aspects to make AI truly useful for ART. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Obesity and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) are major health problems showing an inconstant relationship in the literature. Therefore, anthropometric parameters which are predictive and can simply be assessed at first patient presentation may lead to a better patient selection for ambulatory reflux monitoring. We aimed to examine the association of body mass index (BMI) and waist to hip ratio (WHR) with gastroesophageal reflux activity during 24 hour-pH-impedance monitoring. Methods Seven hundred and seventy-one patients with GERD symptoms underwent 24 hour-pH-impedance monitoring and high resolution manometry off proton pump inhibitors. Patients with known primary motility disorders of the esophagus and pre-existing endoscopic or operative procedure on esophagus or stomach were excluded from the study. Reflux parameters and anthropometric and demographic data from our prospectively gathered database were analyzed. We performed univariate and multivariate regression analysis to evaluate the associations of BMI and WHR with reflux parameters measured with 24 hour-pH-impedance monitoring. Key Results WHR showed a significantly stronger association with esophageal acid exposure than BMI ( P<.001). Our data show that 6.9% of the percentage of endoluminal pH<4 in the distal esophagus is attributable to WHR. Furthermore, an association of WHR with impaired esophageal acid clearance was observed. Additionally, we observed an inverse relationship between lower esophageal sphincter integrity ( P=.05) and esophageal acid exposure. Conclusions and Inferences WHR is a better predictor for esophageal acid exposure than BMI. Biomechanical and metabolic mechanisms of central fat distribution may influence reflux parameters in 24 hour pH impedance monitoring, which may affect patient selection for ambulatory reflux monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]