Advances and trends in meningioma research over the last decade: A scientometric and visual analysis

Abstract

Objective: We conducted a scientometric and visual analysis of meningioma studies in the past ten years and discussed the current status and trends of meningioma research to provide a reference basis for conducting relevant clinical practice or research. Method: A search of the topic of meningioma in the Web of Science Core Collection database was conducted for January 2012-December 2021. The scientometric tools CiteSpace (version 5.8.R3), VOS viewer (version 1.6.17), and the Bibliometrix package of R software (version 4.2.1) were used to visualize and analyze the country of publication, institution, author, keywords, and cited literature of meningioma. Results: A total of 10,397 documents related to meningioma were collected, of which 6,714 articles were analyzed. The annual analysis shows an increase in published articles, with an annual growth rate of 8.9%. 26,696 authors from 111 countries or regions were involved in publishing relevant studies. The country with the highest number of publications was the United States (1671), and the institution with the highest number of publications was the University of California, San Francisco (242). The keyword clustering of current studies can be grouped into five groups: meningioma characteristics and basic research, surgical treatment, radiation therapy, stereotactic radiosurgery, and management of complications. Keyword trend analysis shows that meningioma classification and molecular characteristics are emerging hotspots for meningioma research in recent years. Conclusion: The scientometric and visual analysis demonstrated the research status and trends of meningioma. Over the past decade, meningioma research has focused on managing meningiomas with a predominance of surgical treatment and radiation therapy. At the same time, meningioma classification and molecular characteristics are emerging as current and possible research hotspots in the coming period.