The 100 most influential papers about cataract surgery: a bibliometric analysis

Publication trends in the field of the cornea in the last 4 decades: a bibliometric study

PURPOSE

The objective of this bibliometric study was to identify the top 100 most-cited articles on the cornea published in the English language between 1980 and 2021 using multidimensional citation analysis.

METHODS

The data were obtained from the Thomson Reuters Web of Science Core Collection and the PubMed databases. The top 100 articles in terms of citation number were identified and analyzed.

RESULTS

A total of 40,792 articles related to the cornea were retrieved. The 100 most-cited articles were published between 1995 and 2000. The average time since publication was 19.64 ± 5.75 years. The mean impact factor of the journals was 10.27 ± 17.14 and the Q category of most journals was Q1. Ophthalmology was the journal with the most published articles (n = 10), which represented level 3 evidence. The three most common topics among the top 100 articles were treatment modality, histopathology, and diagnostic imaging. The most frequently mentioned treatments were related to limbal stem cell failure, crosslinking, and lamellar keratoplasty. We observed a negative correlation between the average number of citations per year and the time passed since publication (r = - 0.629; p = 0.001).

CONCLUSION

Our analysis of the top 100 most-cited articles on the cornea revealed scientific contributions, vital current data related to clinical implementations, and valuable insights into the current developments in ophthalmology. To our knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate the most influential papers on the cornea, and our findings highlight the research quality and latest discoveries and trends in the management cornea diseases.

The Most Cited Articles and Authors in Refractive Surgery

PURPOSE

To provide a comprehensive analysis of the most highly cited articles and authors in refractive surgery.

METHODS

The Scopus database was searched for articles pertaining to refractive surgery using multiple search terms to identify the top 100 most cited articles in refractive surgery. A publicly available database of more than 100,000 scientists that provides standardized information on multiple variables resulting in a composite indicator (C score) was searched to identify refractive surgery authors. A refractive surgery-specific composite score was created using only the authors' publications that were directly related to refractive surgery.

RESULTS

The 100 most cited articles and 40 refractive surgery authors with the highest ranked C score were identified. The article with the most citations by Trokel et al has garnered nearly 800 citations to date. All articles included in the top 100 had 200 or more citations. The peak publication years were 1998 to 2001. Laser in situ keratomileusis (22), photorefractive keratectomy (18), and postoperative corneal ectasia and/or corneal biomechanics (16) were the most represented topics. Emory University generated the most articles (7) and the majority of publications (48%) originated in the United States. Steven E. Wilson, MD, had the highest refractive C score and Jorge L. Alió, MD, PhD, had the most refractive surgery articles and citations. Among all authors listed, the average number of refractive surgery publications was 97, with 35% of the group having more than 100 refractive surgery articles published. All authors on the list had more than 2,000 citations for their refractive surgery articles, whereas 38% had 4,000 or more citations.

CONCLUSIONS

This list provides a comprehensive assessment of the most cited articles and authors in refractive surgery and demonstrates key focuses and trends in the field over time. [J Refract Surg. 2023;39(2):78-88.].

The 100 most influential articles in myopia: a bibliometric analysis

AIM

To identify and characterize the 100 most influential articles in the field of myopia over the last decades.

METHODS

Articles on myopia published between January 1975 and March 2020 were searched through the Web of Science Core Collection database. Two independent authors reviewed and determined the 100 most cited articles. The characteristics of each eligible article were recorded, including authors, institutions, countries, journals, publication date, total citations (TCs), annual citations (ACs), research focus and article type.

RESULTS

The top 100 most influential articles were published between 1983 and 2016, with 1999 as the most prolific year. The mean number of TCs was 288 (range: 193-537) and the mean number of ACs was 19 (range: 7-109). Treatment and epidemiology of myopia were the most important research focus. These articles were published in 21 journals led by Ophthalmology (29%) followed by Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science (23%). The number of ACs for articles published in the last ten years was significantly higher than that for the other most-cited articles (44 vs 16, Mann-Whitney U test P<0.01). There is no difference in the number of TCs between original articles and review articles, while the number of ACs for review articles was significantly higher than that for original articles (22 vs 17, Mann-Whitney U test P<0.05).

CONCLUSION

This bibliometric analysis can provide us with concise information about the development trend of research in the field of myopia in the past few decades, and provide an important reference for researchers to guide future research.

Preferred Surgical and Anesthesia Techniques for Cataract Surgery in Jordan

Purpose

To study the current practices in Jordan regarding cataract surgical procedures and anesthesia trends for cataract surgery.

Methods

A cross-sectional survey of members of the Jordanian Ophthalmology Society was conducted in October 2020. The questionnaire included questions about participants' demographics, the preferred surgical techniques for cataracts, the preferred anesthesia technique for cataract surgery, the factors which affect the choice of anesthesia technique, the use of sedation, who gives the anesthesia, if there is an anesthesia-trained person who observes the patient during cataract surgery, and the changing trends towards anesthesia between the surgeons.

Results

More than half of the respondents (59.1%) had been in practice for more than 5 years. The preferred method for routine cataract was phacoemulsification for most participants (98.4%). For mature cataract, phacoemulsification was the preferred method for 61.4% of participants. More than half (55.1%) used topical with intracameral anesthesia for phacoemulsification. Two thirds of the participants (66.3%) performed retrobulbar anesthesia for extracapsular cataract surgery. In the majority of cases (86.6%), the respondent themself is the one who administers the anesthesia. No sedation was used before surgery in 62.6% of cases. Two thirds of the respondents (70.1%) reported that they had an anesthesia-trained person monitoring the patient during surgery. Patient cooperation was the most important factor (70.9%) affecting the surgeon's choice of anesthesia technique followed by surgeon skill and experience (57.5%).

Conclusion

Presently, phacoemulsification is the preferred surgical technique for cataract in Jordan. Topical with intracameral anesthesia is the most common anesthesia for phacoemulsification while retrobulbar anesthesia is the most common for extracapsular cataract extraction.

Does Ophthalmology Need Philosophy?

Although ophthalmology has made significant progress and awareness about eye care and the accessibility of health technology has increased, there are still aspects that might be improved. One of the ways to achieve improvement is philosophical investigation of some reasoning and behavior styles in ophthalmology. Philosophy means love of wisdom, and the philosophical approach can contribute to increasing the wisdom of ophthalmologists. Logical fallacies currently affecting the decisions of ophthalmologists can be reduced. "ontology" can contribute to a better understanding of "the nature of reality". A detailed inquiry about the basic concepts concerning ophthalmology may support better reasoning styles. Reflecting on epistemological questions such as "What is true knowledge?", justifying information, and having a skeptical attitude may help to make decisions with more accurate information. The philosophy of science is concerned with the detailed investigation, questioning, and understanding of ophthalmologists' scientific activities and may form the missing link between ophthalmology and philosophy. Moreover, the claim that philosophy's contribution to science is of no interest to scientists warrants consideration. The philosophers of science Karl Popper and Thomas Kuhn have made significant contributions to the perception of science that are still valid today. Karl Popper proposed that a demarcation between science and pseudo-science might be made through the concept of "falsification". According to this concept, a statement is scientific if it can be tested and falsified using valid methods. Thomas Kuhn stated that major scientific changes (i.e., revolutions) occur through paradigm shifts. Although the areas of moral philosophy/ethics/bioethics have generated useful ideas and practices for the improvement of the art of medicine, bioethics in particular deserves to be questioned philosophically by physicians living in real life. Ophthalmologists can develop more beneficial and realistic ophthalmology education, research, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation practices by utilizing the basic methods of philosophy.

Top 100 cited articles in ophthalmic epidemiology between 2006 and 2016

AIM

To identify the most-cited articles in ophthalmic epidemiology over the last decade.

METHODS

We performed a cited reference search on articles that were included in the ISI Web of Science database using the terms "Epidemi*" AND "ophthalm*" AND "population*" during year 2006 to 2016. TOP 100 most cited articles (T100) in ophthalmic epidemiology were short listed and analysed using bibliometrics.

RESULTS

These top 100 articles in ophthalmic epidemiology were cited between 61 to 333 times. Of these T100 articles, 36% originated from United States, and 34% were published in the Ophthalmology journal. The three major topics identified were age-related macular degeneration (AMD, n=23), glaucoma (n=16) and visual impairment (n=12). The top-cited article was a study on outdoor activities and its association with the prevalence of myopia in school-aged children, published in 2008.

CONCLUSION

This bibliometric analysis provides useful insights into the current development in ophthalmic epidemiology in the past decade and can help recognizing the quality of the researches, discoveries, and trends steering ophthalmic epidemiology.

Trends in conjunctivochalasis research from 1986 to 2017: A bibliometric analysis

BACKGROUND

With the aging of the population and the use of video terminals, the incidence of Conjunctivochalasis is getting higher, and related research is increasing. So our research aimed to use visualization software to display the research trends of Conjunctivochalasis.

METHODS

Retrieved the document (from 1986 to 2017) of conjunctivochalasis in the web of science core collection, analyzed by Citespace V.

RESULTS

The main language is English. Article is the key type of document. The average annual number of publications in the time period from 2008 to 2017 was 11.6, which was significantly higher than the period from 1994 to 2007, indicating that the total number of publications has been continuously developed. The law of frequency quoted showed an upward trend yearly. Furthermore, we can find out that Japan, USA, and People's Republic of China were the most productive countries, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine was the most prolific institution, Shanghai Jiaotong University is a key institution. The average IF of journals was 3.0508. Cornea and Canadian Journal of Ophthalmology are core journals. Tseng SCG is the most active scholar. All cited author contributed to 5 classifications. Di PMA paper is a classic literature. Huang YK paper can be regarded as the frontier document. All cited-reference dedicated to 7 categories. Conjunctivochalasis is the hot topic, related to observe indicators, risk factors, treatment, graded diagnosis of conjunctivochalasis, etc. In addition, fibroblast was research hotspot. At length, the cluster map of keyword was divided into 7 categories.

CONCLUSION

This research will help relevant clinicians and researchers to accurately and quickly grasp the research trends in the field, and continue to conduct new research on the basis.

Medical Litigations Associated with Cataract Surgery in Korea

BACKGROUND

To analyze the results of court rulings about medical litigations related to cataract surgery in Korea.

METHODS

We collected 50 anonymized judgements regarding cataract surgery between 2000 and 2016 and analyzed the reasons for the medical litigations, the court rulings, the reasons for compensation, and the amount claimed and finally awarded.

RESULTS

Forty-eight litigations (96%) resulted from errors in treatment, and the reasons were as follows: endophthalmitis, dissatisfaction of visual outcome or ocular discomfort, bullous keratopathy or corneal opacity, retinal detachment, glaucoma or vitreous hemorrhage due to the progression of an underlying diabetic retinopathy, and others in order. Two litigations (4%) arose due to errors in diagnosis. Among the 50 final cases, 21 litigations (42%) were decided in favor of the plaintiff, and 29 litigations (58%) were decided against the plaintiff and dismissed. Ten cases awarded damages to the plaintiffs because of a violation of duty of care, and 11 cases awarded damages due to a violation of informed consent. When comparing cases with errors in diagnosis to cases with errors in treatment, there was no significant difference in the relative risk of a defendant's verdict (P = 0.503). The total amount of awarded damages was KRW 439,124,496 (USD 399,204), and the average amount was KRW 20,910,690 (USD 19,010).

CONCLUSION

Nearly half of the cases were decided in favor of the plaintiff due to the violation of informed consent. This study's results will be helpful in understanding the results of medical litigations regarding cataract surgery and reducing future lawsuits.