Evolution and trends of childhood cataract research in the past 10 years: A scientometric analysis

Abstract

Purpose: To present a panoramic review of childhood cataract knowledge networks, hotspots and trends.

Methods: The Web of Science Core Collection was used to retrieve the global literature on childhood cataract published between 2012 and 2021. Scientometric data were analyzed and visualized using VOSviewer and CiteSpace for metrics including publication count, citation count, country, journal, author, cited reference, subject category and their temporal trends.

Results: A total of 3395 analyzed publications showed an inconsistent annual increasing trend. The USA (n = 939) was the leading contributor among countries. The Journal of American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus (n = 113) had the highest number of publications among journals. Eight clusters of author collaboration network including 183 authors were identified. Gene mutation, cataract surgery management, intraocular lens implantation complications, prevalence, and glaucoma were identified as the research hotspots. Pediatric cataract surgery, new mutations, artificial intelligence, and cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis were identified as frontier research topics. "Biochemistry and molecular biology", "neurosciences", and "radiology, nuclear medicine and medical imaging" had the highest betweenness centrality values (0.38, 0.32, and 0.22). Multidisciplinary (burst years: 2020 to 2021; strength = 4.32) had the greatest strength as of 2021.

Conclusions: Childhood cataract research intensely focuses on revealing the genetic background and pheno-spectrum of the diseases, innovating and/or optimizing surgical techniques, and preventing and treating postoperative complications. Artificial intelligence has shed light on the diagnosis and treatment of childhood cataracts. The advance in the research on molecular mechanisms of childhood cataracts depends on multidisciplinary cooperation.

Keywords: Artificial intelligence; Childhood cataract; Genotype-phenotype association; Pediatric cataract surgery.

Fig. 1

Flow chart of the study selection process for childhood cataract research publications, as well as the analytic process. Abbreviation: WoSCC, Web of Science Core Collection.

Fig. 2

Profile of research on childhood cataract published in the past 10 years. A. Top graph: worldwide patterns in annual citations and annual publications. Bottom graph: growth rates for publications. B. Top 10 countries. C. Top 10 journals.

Fig. 3

The most active authors in the field of childhood cataract. A. Top 10 co-authors. B. Top 12 first authors. C. Map of the author collaborations.

Fig. 4

Keyword-based analysis of research hotspots for childhood cataracts. Every single keyword is represented by a node. The frequency of the keyword increases with node size. The investigation of keywords leads to the formation of clusters. The same colour in a cluster denotes keyword nodes that are closely connected. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)

Fig. 5

Reference-baed analysis of research frontiers for childhood cataracts in the past 10 years. The nodes show the cited references for studies on childhood cataract. The frequency of citations increases with node size. Purple outer rings denote nodes with significant betweenness centrality, indicating a pivotal role in changes in research paths. According to the moment of their first citation, each node is positioned in a timeline. The subsequent citation years are represented by the citation tree rings. The knowledge base is seen as the network of co-citations. In order of mean formation year, the co-citation clusters are numbered #1 through #8. The clusters are classified as research topic trends using terms taken from the citing articles. The top 3 articles that receive the most citations are highlighted within each cluster. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)

Fig. 6

Key subject categories in childhood cataract research. A. The subject category distribution map. Eleven main collaborative subject categories (occurrence >61) and 9 bridge subject categories (betweenness centrality >0.1) are shown. Bridge subject categories are represented by nodes with purple outside rings. B. Research subject category trend. The period of the citation burst is shown by a red line segment, and a burst signifies a rapid rise in frequency. High strength indicates that the burst is at a high degree. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)