Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 12, 2025

Simultaneous Laryngopharyngeal and Conventional Esophageal pH Monitoring
Published on: December 14, 2020
Topics and trends in gastroesophageal reflux disease research over the past 60 years: a text mining and network
Jing Chen1, Songfeng Chen1, Qianjun Zhuang1
1Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Background:
Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) presents a complex pathophysiological challenge with intricate interactions among its biological components, yet the mechanisms remain incompletely understood. This study aimed to conduct a quantitative analysis to investigate the concentration and evolution of domain knowledge in GERD research.
Methods:
A bibliographic search in PubMed retrieved 18,459 abstracts of experimental studies on GERD, published between 1963 and 2022. Abstracts were scanned automatically for 477 biological components proposed in recent publications, which are represented by a set of (I) genes and molecules (n=180), (II) definition of cytology, histology, and anatomy (n=54), (III) clinical definition (n=243). For each component, semantic synonyms were recovered from catalogues and domain knowledge. The results are visualized as networks indicating the frequency at which different components are referenced together within each abstract.
Results:
Over time the GERD network has seen a progression in the increasing of new components and connectivity. The clinical definition appears to be the most abundant, while studies exploring micro-level mechanisms remain notably scarce. Meanwhile, certain pivotal components consistently attract significant attention, forming crucial elements in this multifactorial disease. However, the micro-level analysis reveals a recent plateau in progress, indicating a bottleneck phase currently.
Conclusions:
GERD domain knowledge has remained confined within established frameworks over history, highlighting the importance of developing novel integrated research paradigms among endless data to bridge the gap between bench and bedside.
Related Concept Videos
Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease II: Clinical Features and Management
Clinical Manifestations
GERD presents itself in a multitude of ways, with symptoms varying from person to person. The hallmark symptoms are...
Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease I: Meaning and Pathophysiology
Assessment of the Gastrointestinal System I: Subjective Data
Health History
The initial step in assessing the GI system is obtaining a comprehensive health history. This includes inquiring about the patient's history or presence of problems...
Barrett Esophagus-I: Introduction
This constant acid exposure transforms the esophagus's pink mucosal lining (stratified squamous epithelium) into a type of lining more...
Assessment of the Gastrointestinal System II: Health Perception Pattern
Health Perception Patterns
Health perception patterns offer valuable insights into a patient's lifestyle habits and how they may impact their GI health. These patterns include:
Esophageal Strictures-I: Introduction
Etiology
The primary cause of esophageal strictures is long-standing gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), accounting for about 70 to 80% of adult cases. Chronic acid reflux can lead to injury and scarring of the esophageal lining, culminating in...

