Bibliometric analysis of the top 100 most cited articles on the basilar artery

BACKGROUND: The basilar artery (BA) is one of the most critical vessels that supply blood to the brain stem, cerebellum, and parts of the cerebral hemispheres. Many studies on the BA from neurobiological, clinical, and experimental perspectives exist. This bibliometric study was aimed at identifying the most-cited articles related to the BA in different disciplines. METHODS: A title-specific search was carried out using the Scopus database, and the top 100 most-cited articles were collected and analyzed. Article- and cytometric-based parameters were established for the literature review. RESULTS: The top 100 articles have an accumulative citation count of 13,595, with an average of 135.95 citations per paper. The publication dates range from 1946 to 2015, with the most productive years being those in the 1990s. Experimental studies are the most frequent category, followed by endovascular ones. The top-cited article has received a total of 435 citations, with 18.12 citations per year. The United States of America has contributed the most to the top 100 cited articles. The lead research institution was the University of Bern, and the most contributing journal was the Journal of Neurosurgery. CONCLUSION: A bibliometric analysis of BA researches revealed landmark papers and trends over the years, such as on the introduction of endovascular management in basilar aneurysm and occlusion. The highly cited articles in multi-disciplinary areas related to the BA may help develop future novel ideas for research in the laboratory and translational fields.