Theme trends in research related to retinal vein occlusion: a quantitative and co-word analysis

Abstract Background. This study focused on plotting knowledge structure and exploring research hotspots of retinal vein occlusion (RVO). Methods. In this study, research articles, with subject of RVO, were acquired from PubMed. Bibliographic Item Co-Occurrence Matrix Builder (BICOMB) was used for MeSH terms acquisition, evaluation and high-frequency MeSH term determination. Biclustering analysis and knowledge structure were conducted based on the MeSH term-source article matrix. RVO theme trends were illustrated with social network analysis (SNA), along with strategic diagrams. Results. A total of 3179 articles on RVO were retrieved, and the annual research output increased with time. USA ranked first with the most publications, with Retina as the most prolific journal in RVO research. MeSH terms were characterized into five different genres. As shown by the strategic diagram, the complications of RVO, the etiology of macular edema, as well as the therapeutic use of anti-VEGF, steroids and anti-inflammatory agents were well developed (Quadrant I). In contrast, epidemiology, metabolism and genetics related research on RVO were relatively immature (Quadrant III). Research on surgical treatments of vitrectomy, diagnostic methods and pathology of RVO were centralized but undeveloped (Quadrant IV). The SNA results was exhibited by the centrality chart, on which the node position was represented by the centrality values. Conclusions. By providing a bibliometric research, the overall RVO research trends could be revealed based on the five categories identified by this study. The mathematical bibliometric study could shed light on new perspectives for researchers.