Research on postoperative complications following transcatheter aortic valve replacement: a bibliometric and visual...

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) has transformed the treatment of severe aortic stenosis in patients at high or prohibitive surgical risk. Despite high procedural success, postoperative complications remain common and clinically consequential. Understanding how research on these complications has evolved is essential for guiding future investigations and improving outcomes. This study maps the global research landscape of TAVR-associated postoperative complications, with emphasis on thematic evolution, collaboration patterns, and emerging mechanistic and analytical approaches.

A bibliometric analysis of publications from 2006 to 2025 was conducted using the Web of Science Core Collection. Publication trends, contributing countries and institutions, authors, subject categories, and journals were analysed. CiteSpace and VOSviewer were used to visualise keyword co-occurrence, citation bursts, collaboration networks, and thematic clusters.

A total of 3587 publications were identified, with rapid growth after 2014. The United States led in publication output and international collaboration, followed by Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom. Research themes shifted from early feasibility studies towards complication-focused topics. High-frequency keywords included stroke, paravalvular leak, and bundle branch block, while recent attention has increasingly focused on frailty, sarcopenia, and multimorbidity. Biomechanical terms such as finite element and fluid-structure interaction reflected deeper mechanistic exploration. The literature spanned over 20 disciplines, indicating strong interdisciplinarity.

The field has shifted from procedural feasibility to multidisciplinary, mechanism-oriented studies of complications affecting long-term outcomes, with frailty emerging as a key patient-centred determinant in older TAVR populations.