Latin America's Cardiovascular Scientific Surgeons: A 20-Year Visual and Bibliometric Journey of Resilience

The academic and research contributions of cardiovascular scientific surgeons in Latin America have remained largely unnoticed. This study analyzes the bibliometric production of cardiovascular scientific surgeons over the past 20 years and its impact on Latin American cardiovascular surgery.

A bibliometric-visual study was conducted using the Scopus database (2004-2024) with 95 major thesauri in Latin American cardiovascular surgery. Data on publications, authorship, citations, trends, collaborative networks, journals, topics, sponsorship, and economic development factors were analyzed using the R bibliometrix package and Stata software.

A total of 8559 publications and 47,171 authors (2.5% of global output) were analyzed, with 77.41% being original articles or case reports. Brazil led scientific production (47.26%), with international coauthorship at 33.12%. The most cited journal was the Brazilian Journal of Cardiovascular Surgery (quartile 3). Coronary-valvular surgery (56.17%) was the predominant topic. Despite a 61.1% drop in 2023-2024, predictive models suggest recovery by early 2025, surpassing previous levels (P = .0001). A moderate correlation between scientific production and GDP per capita was found (P = .0024).

This is the first bibliometric analysis of cardiovascular scientific surgeons in Latin America, highlighting significant growth despite challenges. Predictive models suggest a potential for the highest production in 20 years by 2025 in the post-pandemic era. Stronger research policies, increased funding, and enhanced collaboration are essential to sustain growth.