History and emerging trends of computational fluid dynamics applications in atherosclerosis: a bibliometric analysis...

Atherosclerosis (AS), a complex cardiovascular disease closely related to hemodynamics, increasingly utilizes computational fluid dynamics (CFD) in its research. This study aims to systematically identify cooperation networks, track research trends, highlight current hot spots, and predict the future frontier and application of CFD in AS research.

Articles regarding AS and CFD from 1992 to 2024 were identified from the Web of Science Core Collection database. CiteSpace, VOSviewer software, R package "bibliometrix," and Excel, as well as an online bibliometric analysis platform, facilitated bibliometric visualization and analysis of countries, institutions, journals, authors, references, and keywords.

A total of 803 papers were included, with a significant increase in annual publications, mainly concentrated in "North America," "Western Europe," and "East Asia." "The United States" (262 papers) and "Erasmus Medical Center" (29 papers) are the most productive countries and institutions. "The Annals of Biomedical Engineering" published the most papers. "Jolanda J. Wentzel" is the most productive author with 24 papers, while "Ku David N." has been cited the most. "Hemodynamics," "arteries," "wall shear stress," and "blood flow" are considered hot research topics in this field. "Fractional flow reserve," "plaques," "fluid structure interactions," "prediction," and "coronary computed tomography angiography" are important research directions for the future.

Research on the application of CFD in the diagnosis and treatment of AS is growing steadily. This article can provide practical sources for scholars to understand key information in this field and identify potential research frontiers and hot topics in the near future.