Junwei Zhang1, Xiaobo Yang2, Jinyu Fang3, Quan-Cheng Cheng3, Hui-Ru Ding3, Yan-Rong Sun3, Man Li3, Jing-Lin Zhang4, Lei Zhang2, Haitao Zhao2, Xinting Sang2, Yi-Yao Xu5, Wei-Guang Zhang6, Xin Lu7. 1. Department of Liver Surgery, State Key Laboratory of Complex Severe and Rare Diseases, Peking Union Medical College (PUMC) Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College (CAMS & PUMC), Beijing, 100730, China. Electronic address: zjwgw@qq.com. 2. Department of Liver Surgery, State Key Laboratory of Complex Severe and Rare Diseases, Peking Union Medical College (PUMC) Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College (CAMS & PUMC), Beijing, 100730, China. 3. Department of Human Anatomy, Histology & Embryology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China. 4. Shanxi Medical University School and Hospital of Stomatology, Taiyuan, China. 5. Department of Liver Surgery, State Key Laboratory of Complex Severe and Rare Diseases, Peking Union Medical College (PUMC) Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College (CAMS & PUMC), Beijing, 100730, China. Electronic address: xuyiyao@hotmail.com. 6. Department of Human Anatomy, Histology & Embryology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China. Electronic address: zhangwg@bjmu.edu.cn. 7. Department of Liver Surgery, State Key Laboratory of Complex Severe and Rare Diseases, Peking Union Medical College (PUMC) Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College (CAMS & PUMC), Beijing, 100730, China. Electronic address: luxin@pumch.cn.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Associating liver partition and portal vein ligation for staged hepatectomy (ALPPS) has become increasingly popular during the past few decades, and its indications have extended from patients with normal liver to post-chemotherapy patients and even patients with cirrhosis. However, few studies have assessed the publications in relation to ALPPS. METHODS: Web of Science was searched to identify studies related to ALPPS published from 2012 to 2021. The analysis was performed using the bibliometric package (Version 3.1.0) in R software. RESULTS: In total, 486 publications were found. These articles were published in 159 journals and authored by 2157 researchers from 694 organizations. The most prolific journal was Annals of Surgery (24 articles and 1170 citations). The most frequently cited article was published in Annals of Surgery (average citations, 72.7; total citations, 727). China was the most productive country for ALPPS publications but had comparatively less interaction with other countries. Both thematic evolution and co-occurrence network analysis showed low numbers of topics such as failure, resection, and safety among the publications but large numbers of highly cited papers on outcomes, prediction, mechanisms, multicenter analysis, and novel procedures such as liver venous deprivation. A total of 196 studies focused the clinical application of ALPPS, and most studies were IDEAL Stages I and II. The specific mechanism of ALPPS liver regeneration remains unclear. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first bibliometric analysis offering an overview of the development of ALPPS research publications. Our findings identified prominent studies, countries, institutions, journals, and authors to indicate the future direction of ALPPS research. The role of ALPPS in liver regeneration and the long-term results of ALPPS need further study. Future research directions include comparison of ALPPS with portal vein embolization, liver venous deprivation, and other two-stage hepatectomies as well as patients' quality of life after ALPPS.
BACKGROUND: Associating liver partition and portal vein ligation for staged hepatectomy (ALPPS) has become increasingly popular during the past few decades, and its indications have extended from patients with normal liver to post-chemotherapy patients and even patients with cirrhosis. However, few studies have assessed the publications in relation to ALPPS. METHODS: Web of Science was searched to identify studies related to ALPPS published from 2012 to 2021. The analysis was performed using the bibliometric package (Version 3.1.0) in R software. RESULTS: In total, 486 publications were found. These articles were published in 159 journals and authored by 2157 researchers from 694 organizations. The most prolific journal was Annals of Surgery (24 articles and 1170 citations). The most frequently cited article was published in Annals of Surgery (average citations, 72.7; total citations, 727). China was the most productive country for ALPPS publications but had comparatively less interaction with other countries. Both thematic evolution and co-occurrence network analysis showed low numbers of topics such as failure, resection, and safety among the publications but large numbers of highly cited papers on outcomes, prediction, mechanisms, multicenter analysis, and novel procedures such as liver venous deprivation. A total of 196 studies focused the clinical application of ALPPS, and most studies were IDEAL Stages I and II. The specific mechanism of ALPPS liver regeneration remains unclear. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first bibliometric analysis offering an overview of the development of ALPPS research publications. Our findings identified prominent studies, countries, institutions, journals, and authors to indicate the future direction of ALPPS research. The role of ALPPS in liver regeneration and the long-term results of ALPPS need further study. Future research directions include comparison of ALPPS with portal vein embolization, liver venous deprivation, and other two-stage hepatectomies as well as patients' quality of life after ALPPS.