Characteristics of the top 100 cited original studies on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a bibliometric analysis

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has been widely used as a life support for different kinds of acute cardiopulmonary dysfunction. The present study aimed at presenting the global trend of the top 100 cited original studies related to ECMO.

Bibliometric analysis was the primary methodology for this study. Literature data were collected from Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC). Indicators were analyzed and visualized by Excel and VOSviewer, the study design, study population, study topic, journal impact factor (IF), Category Rank and Category Quartile, author, country, journal and keywords were included.

The top 100 cited articles were published between 1979 and 2021. With 19 publications, 2020 was the most prolific year. High-income countries or regions, such as the United States of America (USA), France and Canada owned a majority of the articles. Seventeen studies were randomized trials, 52 were finished in single center, and 53 focused on adults. The 100 articles were documented by 31 different journals. The journals were well recognized, with a mean IF₂₀₂₂ of 28.77, a median of 8.8, and a range of 1.6-168.9. The major diseases were viral infection of respiratory system, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) or respiratory failure, pulmonary hypertension of infants, heart failure/cardiogenic shock, diaphragmatic hernia and cardiac arrest. Specifically, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) accounted for 72.7% of viral infections. The disease spectrum changed from congenital cardiopulmonary dysfunction to cardiac arrest, ARDS and cardiopulmonary failure, and to severe COVID infection cases. Another fresh hotspot is immune dysfunction.

This bibliometric analysis identified 100 most frequently cited original studies on ECMO and described their characteristics, which may help with further investigations.