Research progress in hepatic encephalopathy in recent 10 years: A Web of Science-based literature analysis

OBJECTIVE: To analyze international research trends in hepatic encephalopathy and examine the role of neuroelectrophysiology and neuroimaging in diagnosis of hepatic encephalopathy. DATA RETRIEVAL: We performed a bibliometric analysis of studies on hepatic encephalopathy published during 2002–2011 retrieved from Web of Science. SELECTION CRITERIA: Inclusion criteria: (1) peer-reviewed published articles on hepatic encephalopathy; (2) original article, review, meeting abstract, proceedings paper, book chapter, editorial material, news items, and (3) published during 2002–2011. Exclusion criteria: (1) articles that required manual searching or telephone access; (2) documents that were not published in the public domain; and (3) corrected papers from the total number of articles. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: (1) Annual publication output; (2) type of publication; (3) publication by research field; (4) publication by journal; (5) publication by author; (6) publication by institution; (7) publication by country; (8) publication by institution in China; (9) most-cited papers. RESULTS: A total of 3 233 papers regarding hepatic encephalopathy were retrieved during 2002–2011. The number of papers gradually increased over the 10-year study period and was highest in 2010. Most papers appeared in journals with a focus on gastroenterology and hepatology. Among the included journals, Hepatology published the greatest number of papers regarding hepatic encephalopathy, and the published studies were highly cited. Thus, Hepatology appears to represent a key journal publishing papers on hepatic encephalopathy. Regarding distribution by country for publications on hepatic encephalopathy indexed in Web of Science during 2002–2011, the United States published highest number of papers, with China ranked ninth. As per distribution by institute for publications, the University of Montreal in Canada published the highest number of papers (n = 111). Among the Chinese institutes, Zhejiang University in China was the most prolific institute with 15 papers. CONCLUSION: The present bibliometric analysis on hepatic encephalopathy provides an overview of research progress, as well as identifying the most active institutes and experts in this research field during 2002–2011. Research into hepatic encephalopathy has revealed changes in neural injury and regeneration in hepatic encephalopathy. Neuroelectrophysiological and neuroimaging examinations are important for determining clinical classifications and disease severity of hepatic encephalopathy, providing a foundation for further research.