The application of metagenomic next-generation sequencing in pathogen diagnosis: a bibliometric analysis based on Web of Science

Exploring trends in reproductive system microbiome research in farm animals: A bibliometric approach

This study presents a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of literature on the microbiome of reproductive systems in farm animals, utilizing data from the Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus databases. The primary aim was to evaluate the scientific content and bibliometric characteristics of articles published on the reproductive tract microbiome in farm animals. The advanced tool Bibliometrix was employed to explore bibliometric networks, providing insights into the scope of microbiome research within this field. Findings indicate that research in reproductive microbiomes is still emerging, with significant contributions from developed countries, particularly the United States, China, Brazil, and Spain. The field remains heavily focused on bovine studies, while substantial knowledge gaps persist regarding other livestock, including ovines, caprines, and camelids. One of the most notable advancements in this area has been the adoption of next-generation sequencing (NGS), which has shifted microbiome research away from labour-intensive, culture-based methods to culture-independent, high-throughput approaches. Although NGS has significantly facilitated the study of bacterial communities within reproductive systems, limited research has been conducted on fungal and viral microbiomes. This bacterial emphasis is partly due to the accessibility and cost of NGS technologies, which remain prohibitively high for many institutions in developing regions, thus limiting participation. Clustering analysis identified three main themes: genetic influences on pregnancy, microbial-reproductive health interactions, and male fertility with a focus on sperm quality. Additionally, emerging research topics were identified, including microbial species associated with reproductive diseases in livestock.

Global hotspot and trend of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for pulmonary embolism

Background

Research on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO)-assisted support for pulmonary embolism (PE) has been increasing, yet no systematic bibliometric analysis has been conducted. This study evaluates global research trends in this field by analyzing countries, institutions, authors, journals, references, and keywords.

Methods

Relevant articles and reviews published up to August 15, 2023, were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection (WOSCC). VOSviewer and CiteSpace software were used for bibliometric analysis of collected data.

Results

Publications on ECMO-assisted support for PE surged from 2015 to 2023, comprising 82.7% (306/370) of total studies. The United States, Germany, and China contributed 62.97% (233/370) of the research. Perfusion-UK had the most publications, while Journal of the American College of Cardiology was the most cited journal. The University of Maryland, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Harvard Medical School were the leading institutions. Chetan Pasrija published the highest number of papers, while Konstantinidis SV was the most co-cited author. Research hot spots include: (1) ECMO management and survival rates, (2) combined treatments with thrombolysis or surgical thrombectomy, (3) anticoagulation and clot formation, and (4) ECMO support in COVID-19.

Conclusion

This study aims to increase awareness of research hot spots on ECMO-assisted support for PE by determining the collaboration and impact of authors, countries, institutions, and journals. In addition, it comprehensively reviews research trends on ECMO regarding PE. It also provides a reference for potential collaborators, institutions, and future research prospects.

Treatment of a rare and severe infection of central nervous system by Angiostrongylus cantonensis: A case report

BACKGROUND

Angiostrongylus cantonensis-induced acute parasitic infection is a rare food-borne disease in clinical practice. Lack of its specific laboratory markers and subsequent difficulty in detecting pathogens cause high misdiagnosis and missed diagnosis rates.

CASE SUMMARY

A 20-year-old male developed persistent neck and back pain after consuming raw snail meat, followed by urinary retention and low fever. After admission, the patient was misdiagnosed as viral infection and Mycobacterium tuberculosis in central nervous system. After detection of Angiostrongylus cantonensis in blood and cerebrospinal fluid by metagenomics next generation sequencing, albendazole was administered with ceftriaxone and methylprednisolone treatment simultaneously. With effective antiparasitic treatment, the patient weaned from mechanical ventilation successfully and transferred out of intensive care unit for hyperbaric oxygen and rehabilitation treatment.

CONCLUSION

This case highlights the diagnostic challenges of Angiostrongylus cantonensis infection and the importance of advanced sequencing techniques in identifying rare pathogens.

Evaluating Growth in Dry Socket Publications: A Bibliometric Analysis

Dry socket, a common postextraction complication, occurs when the blood clot in the tooth socket fails to form or is dislodged, leading to severe pain and delayed healing. This study aimed to analyze the publication trends and key features of dry socket research published from 1905 to 2024 worldwide. A quantitative bibliometric approach was employed to extract data from the Web of Science database. The search strategy included Topics = ("dry socket" OR "alveolar osteitis") and covered publications up to December 31, 2024. The search captured all types of documents to provide a comprehensive overview. The study analyzed and extracted several bibliometric parameters, including the classification of clinical versus nonclinical studies, level of evidence, trends in research, and citations over time, as well as information on the leading journals, countries, institutions, authors, and top keywords. Data analysis was conducted using Microsoft Excel (version 16, Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA) and VOSviewer (version 1.6.10, Centre for Science and Technology Studies, Leiden University, The Netherlands) software. Our search identified 713 documents, averaging 18.85 citations per publication. Most studies were clinical, and level 2 was the most frequently observed level of evidence. Approximately 82% of the publications were released in the past 24 years, from 2001 to 2024. Over one-third of the literature was published in the top 10 journals, with the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery being the most preferred. The United States produced the most research and had the highest citation impact. The Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences contributed the largest number of publications, while The University of Manchester had the highest citation impact. Majid Eshghpour was the most productive author. The most influential keywords identified were "dry socket", "alveolar osteitis", and "tooth extraction". This bibliometric study provides valuable insights into the evolving body of research on dry sockets, offering a clear picture of the leading topics, influential journals, and key contributors shaping this field. Future research efforts should continue to build on these findings, focusing on innovative clinical interventions, preventive measures, and further exploration of less studied areas.

Bibliometric Analysis of Peer-Reviewed Literature on Erosive Tooth Wear From 1945 to 2023

Erosive tooth wear (ETW) is a prevalent oral condition with varying etiology, including erosion, abrasion, abfraction, and attrition. It is reported in the literature in different nomenclatures, hindering the ability to identify the emerging trends and influential scholarly works and bodies within this field. Using a bibliometric analysis approach, this study aims to evaluate the trends, themes, and productivity of the research on ETW condition while respecting its different terminologies. The Web of Science database was utilized to obtain the publication records on ETW to implement a retrospective bibliometric study. The data were retrieved on September 10, 2024, with the search terms "Dental erosion" OR "enamel erosion" OR "erosive tooth" OR "dental abrasion" OR "tooth abrasion" OR "toothbrush abrasion" OR "enamel abrasion" OR "non-carious cervical lesion" OR "non carious cervical lesion" OR "abfraction" OR "abfractions" OR "Tooth wear" OR "erosive tooth wear". We identified 6,069 records, and after applying inclusion/exclusion criteria, we removed 679, and the remaining 5,390 papers were considered for the analysis. The bibliometric indicators include types and accessibility modes, year of publications with citations, publishing sources, most contributing countries, institutions, authorship patterns, top authors, keywords, and the characteristics of the 15 most cited articles were examined. For the data analysis, Microsoft Excel (v.16; Microsoft® Corp., Redmond, WA), VOSviewer (v.1.6.10; https://www.vosviewer.com), and Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS, v.27; IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Armonk, NY) software were utilized. The outcome illustrated that 5,390 papers on ETW were contributed by the authors of 127 countries and published in 1,112 journals between 1945 and 2023. The Journal of Dentistry published the most papers (n=290), while the European Journal of Oral Sciences had the most impactful papers (54.91 citations/paper). Authors from 3,904 institutions participated. The University of São Paulo became the most productive institution with 336 papers, while the University of Bristol's papers had the maximum citation impact (55.32 citations/paper). About 81.49% of the total authors had produced one paper each. The percentage of average authors for each paper was found to be 4.41, and David Bartlett was the most productive author. The most cited top 15 papers got an average of 297.26 citations per paper. About 77% of research on ETW was published in the last two decades. This bibliometric evaluation provides direction for future research and data regarding the present state of research on ETW.

Application of metagenomic next-generation sequencing for rapid molecular identification in spinal infection diagnosis

Objective

This study aimed to determine the sensitivity and specificity of metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) for detecting pathogens in spinal infections and to identify the differences in the diagnostic performance between mNGS and targeted next-generation sequencing (tNGS).

Methods

A total of 76 consecutive patients with suspected spinal infections who underwent mNGS, culture, and histopathological examinations were retrospectively studied. The final diagnosis of the patient was determined by combining the clinical treatment results, pathological examinations, imaging changes and laboratory indicators. The sensitivity and specificity of mNGS and culture were determined.

Results

The difference between the two detection rates was statistically significant (p < 0.001), with mNGS exhibiting a significantly higher detection rate (77.6% versus 18.4%). The average diagnosis time of mNGS was significantly shorter than that of bacterial culture (p < 0.001, 1.65 versus 3.07 days). The sensitivity and accuracy of mNGS were significantly higher than that of the culture group (p < 0.001, 82.3% versus 17.5%; 75% versus 27.6%), whereas the specificity of mNGS (42.9%) was lower than that of the culture group (p > 0.05, 42.9% versus 76.9%). The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and positive predictive value (PPV) of pus were higher than those of tissue samples for mNGS, whereas for culture, the sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and PPV of tissue samples were higher than those of pus. tNGS demonstrated higher sensitivity and accuracy in diagnosing tuberculosis (TB) than mNGS (80% versus 50%; 87.5% versus 68.8%).

Conclusion

mNGS for spinal infection demonstrated better diagnostic value in developing an antibiotic regimen earlier, and it is recommended to prioritize pus samples for testing through mNGS. Moreover, tNGS outperformed other methods for diagnosing spinal TB and identifying antibiotic-resistance genes in drug-resistant TB.

The top 100 most cited articles in the treatment of basal cell carcinoma over the last decade: A bibliometric analysis and review

Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) represents the most prevalent cancer globally. The past decade has witnessed significant advancements in BCC treatment, primarily through bibliometric studies. Aiming to perform a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of BCC treatments to comprehend the research landscape and identify trends within this domain, a dataset comprising 100 scientific publications from the Web of Science Core Collection was analyzed. Country co-operation, journal co-citation, theme bursts, keyword co-occurrence, author co-operation, literature co-citation, and field-specific references were examined using VOSviewer and CiteSpace visualization tools. These articles, published between 2013 and 2020, originated predominantly from 30 countries/regions and 159 institutions, with the USA and Germany at the forefront, involving a total of 1118 authors. The keyword analysis revealed significant emphasis on the hedgehog pathway, Mohs micrographic surgery, and photodynamic therapy. The research shows developed nations are at the forefront in advancing BCC therapies, with significant focus on drugs targeting the hedgehog pathway. This treatment avenue has emerged as a crucial area, meriting considerable attention in BCC therapeutic strategies.

Diagnostic performance of metagenomic next-generation sequencing for the detection of pathogens in cerebrospinal fluid in pediatric patients with central nervous system infection: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Detecting pathogens in pediatric central nervous system infection (CNSI) is still a major challenge in medicine. In addition to conventional diagnostic patterns, metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) shows great potential in pathogen detection. Therefore, we systematically evaluated the diagnostic performance of mNGS in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in pediatric patients with CNSI.

METHODS

Related literature was searched in the Web of Science, PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library. We screened the literature and extracted the data according to the selection criteria. The quality of included studies was assessed by the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 (QUADAS-2) tool and the certainty of the evidence was measured by the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluations (GRADE) score system. Then, the pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR), diagnostic odd's ratio (DOR), and area under the curve (AUC) of the summary receiver operating characteristic curve (sROC) were estimated in Stata Software and MetaDisc. Subgroup analyses were performed to investigate the potential factors that influence the diagnostic performance.

RESULTS

A total of 10 studies were included in the meta-analysis. The combined sensitivity was 0.68 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.59 to 0.76, I2 = 66.77%, p < 0.001), and the combined specificity was 0.89 (95% CI: 0.80 to 0.95, I2 = 83.37%, p < 0.001). The AUC of sROC was 0.85 (95% CI, 0.81 to 0.87). The quality level of evidence elevated by the GRADE score system was low.

CONCLUSIONS

Current evidence shows that mNGS presents a good diagnostic performance in pediatric CNSI. Due to the limited quality and quantity of the included studies, more high-quality studies are needed to verify the above conclusion.