Table7_Trends in worldwide research on cardiac fibrosis over the period 1989–2022: a bibliometric study.xlsx

BackgroundCardiac fibrosis is a hallmark of various end-stage cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and a potent contributor to adverse cardiovascular events. During the past decades, extensive publications on this topic have emerged worldwide, while a bibliometric analysis of the current status and research trends is still lacking.
MethodsWe retrieved relevant 13,446 articles on cardiac fibrosis published between 1989 and 2022 from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC). Bibliometrix was used for science mapping of the literature, while VOSviewer and CiteSpace were applied to visualize co-authorship, co-citation, co-occurrence, and bibliographic coupling networks.
ResultsWe identified four major research trends: (1) pathophysiological mechanisms; (2) treatment strategies; (3) cardiac fibrosis and related CVDs; (4) early diagnostic methods. The most recent and important research themes such as left ventricular dysfunction, transgenic mice, and matrix metalloproteinase were generated by burst analysis of keywords. The reference with the most citations was a contemporary review summarizing the role of cardiac fibroblasts and fibrogenic molecules in promoting fibrogenesis following myocardial injury. The top 3 most influential countries were the United States, China, and Germany, while the most cited institution was Shanghai Jiao Tong University, followed by Nanjing Medical University and Capital Medical University.
ConclusionsThe number and impact of global publications on cardiac fibrosis has expanded rapidly over the past 30 years. These results are in favor of paving the way for future research on the pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment of cardiac fibrosis.

背景 心脏纤维化（cardiac fibrosis）是多种终末期心血管疾病（end-stage cardiovascular diseases，CVDs）的标志性病理特征，亦是不良心血管事件的重要致病因素。近数十年来，全球范围内涌现出大量该领域的研究成果，但目前仍缺乏针对该主题现状与研究趋势的文献计量分析。
方法 我们从Web of Science核心合集（Web of Science Core Collection，WoSCC）中检索得到1989年至2022年间发表的13446篇与心脏纤维化相关的文献。采用Bibliometrix进行文献科学图谱绘制，并借助VOSviewer与CiteSpace实现作者合作网络、共被引网络、共现网络以及文献耦合网络的可视化。
结果 我们识别出四大主要研究方向：（1）病理生理机制；（2）治疗策略；（3）心脏纤维化与相关心血管疾病；（4）早期诊断方法。通过关键词突现分析（burst analysis），得到了左心室功能障碍、转基因小鼠以及基质金属蛋白酶（matrix metalloproteinase）等近年重要的研究热点。被引次数最高的文献为一篇当代综述，该综述总结了心脏成纤维细胞与致纤维化分子在心肌损伤后促进纤维化发生中的作用。影响力排名前三的国家依次为美国、中国与德国，而被引次数最多的机构为上海交通大学，其次是南京医科大学与首都医科大学。
结论 过去30年间，全球关于心脏纤维化的研究文献数量与影响力均实现了快速增长。本研究结果可为未来心脏纤维化的发病机制、诊断与治疗相关研究提供参考与指引。