A 20-year bibliometric analysis of Fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy: from 2001 to 2020

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to identify trends and focuses in the field of Fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy (FECD) research. METHODS: A bibliometric analysis based on the Web of Science Core Collection was conducted. All publications related to FECD from 2001 to 2020 were extracted and analyzed. VOSviewer v.1.6.17 was used to construct a visualization map and evaluate the trends and focuses in FECD research. RESULTS: A total of 1,041 publications were extracted. The rate of global publications has steadily increased. The United States produced the highest number of publications (461), the highest number of citations (18,757), and the highest H index (69). Melles GRJ published the highest number of papers (60), and Price FW had the highest number of citations (4,154) in the FECD research field. The highest number of publications came from the journal Cornea (279). Keywords were classified into four clusters: (1) corneal transplantation surgery, (2) surgical techniques and instruments, (3) corneal parameter measurement, and (4) genetic and molecular pathomechanisms. The average appearing years (AAYs) of the keywords were evaluated. Recently appearing keywords included “Tcf4 gene” (AAY of 2018.3), “ctg18.1” (AAY of 2017.2), “trinucleotide repeat expansion” (AAY of 2018.3), “rock inhibitor” (AAY of 2017.4), and “descemetorhexis” (AAY of 2017.4). CONCLUSIONS: The United States has a dominant position in FECD research. Although corneal transplantation surgery has been the most mainstream area of FECD research field for a long time, gene mutations such as the TCF4 CTG trinucleotide repeat expansion, nonsurgical interventions such as rho-associated kinase inhibitors, and newer surgical methods such as descemetorhexis without endothelial keratoplasty are potential research hotspots. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12886-022-02468-x.