Knowledge fields and emerging trends about extracellular matrix in carotid artery disease from 1990 to 2021: analysis of the scientific literature

BACKGROUND: Stroke is a heavy burden in modern society, and carotid artery disease is a major cause. The role of the extracellular matrix (ECM) in the development and progression of carotid artery disease has become a popular research focus. However, there is no published bibliometric analysis to derive the main publication features and trends in this scientific area. We aim to conduct a bibliometric analysis to reveal current status of ECM in carotid artery disease and to predict future hot spots. METHODS: We searched and downloaded articles from the Web of Science Core Collection with “Carotid” and “Extracellular Matrix” as subject words from 1990 to 2021. The complete bibliographic data were analyzed by Bibliometrics, BICOMB, gCLUTO and CiteSpace softwares. RESULTS: Since 1990, the United States has been the leader in the number of publications in the field of ECM in carotid artery disease, followed by China, Japan and Germany. Among institutions, Institut National De La Sante Et De La Recherche Medicale Inserm, University of Washington Seattle and Harvard University are in the top 3. “Arteriosclerosis Thrombosis and Vascular Biology” is the most popular journal and “Circulation” is the most cited journal. “Clowes AW”, “Hedin Ulf” and “Nilsson Jan” are the top three authors of published articles. Finally, we investigated the frontiers through the strongest citation bursts, conducted keyword biclustering analysis, and discovered five clusters of research hotspots. Our research provided a comprehensive analysis of the fundamental data, knowledge organization, and dynamic evolution of research about ECM in carotid artery disease. CONCLUSIONS: The field of ECM in carotid artery disease has received increasing attention. We summarized the history of the field and predicted five future hotspots through bibliometric analysis. This study provided a reference for researchers in this fields, and the methodology can be extended to other fields. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40001-023-01259-4.