Bibliometrics-based Clinical And Experimental Studies In The Field Of Liver Tumor Therapy

ObjectivesOver the past four decades,the management of hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)has changed dramatically.The publications that have had the most significant impact on HCC management have not been quantitatively analyzed.In this article,we analyzed the 100 most influential articles over the past four decades using bibliometric citation analysis to characterize the evolution in HCC treatment.MethodsThe top-cited publications were identified and analyzed from the Clarivate Analytics Web of Science(WOS)Core Collection database.The articles published between January 1980 and December 2020 focusing on the management of HCC were included in our study.The top 100 cited publications were analyzed by citation count,author,year,country,affiliation,journal,and topic.ResultsThe 100 most cited articles were identified with an average of 738 citations(range:349-6,799).Within the top 100 influential papers,locoregional treatment was the most studied topic(n=31,31%),followed by surgical management(n=30,30%),systemic therapy(n=21,21%)and outcomes prediction(n=18,18%).Most top 100 articles came from the United State(n=35,35%),followed by Italy(n=28,28%),China's mainland(n=26,26%)and Japan(n=24,24%).The Annals of Surgery published the highest number of papers(n=26,26%)with 13,978 citations.There was an increase in the number of influential articles in the late 1990s,which was paralleled by an increase in reports focused on locoregional treatment of HCC.While other three topics(surgical management,locoregional treatment and outcomes prediction)declined among publications beginning in 2000s,there was an emergence of highly cited papers on targeted drugs and immune checkpoint inhibitors with a concomitant increase in the number of publications on systemic therapy.ConclusionsBased on bibliometric analysis of the literature over the last 40 years,a comprehensive analysis of the most historically significant HCC management articles highlighted the key contributions made to the evolution and advancement of this specialist field.The data should provide clinicians and researchers insight into future directions relative to the advancement of HCC management.ObjectivesCaudate lobectomy via laparoscopic surgery has rarely been described.This multicenter,propensity score-matched study was performed to assess the safety and efficacy of laparoscopic caudate lobectomy(LCL).MethodsA multicenter retrospective study was performed including all patients who underwent LCL and open caudate lobectomy(OCL)in four institutions from January 2013 to December 2018.In total,131 patients were included in this study and divided into LCL(n=19)and OCL(n=112)groups.LCLs were matched to OCLs(1:2)using a propensity score matching(PSM)based on 9 preoperative variables,including patient demographics and tumor characteristics.The pathological results,perioperative and postoperative parameters,and short-term outcomes were compared between the two groups.ResultsAfter PSM,there were 18 and 36 patients in the LCL and OCL groups,respectively.Baseline characteristics were comparable after matching.LCL was associated with less blood(100 vs.300 ml,respectively;P<0.001)and a shorter postoperative stay(6.0 vs 8.0 days,respectively;P=0.003).Most patients'resection margins were>10 mm in the LCL group(P=0.021),and all patients with malignancy in both groups achieved R0 resection.In terms of early postoperative outcomes,the overall morbidity rate was identical in each group(11.1%vs.11.1%,respectively;P=1.000).No mortality occurred in either group.ConclusionsLaparoscopy is a feasible choice for resection of tumors located in the caudate lobe with acceptable perioperative results.ObjectivesPortal hypertension is a severe symptom of chronic liver diseases,which is characterized by an increased portal vein pressure gradient greater than 5 mmHg.Measuring and monitoring the portal vein pressure in patients with portal hypertension is important to guide the clinical treatment and evaluate the treatment efficacy.Currently,noninvasive methods aimed to monitoring the portal vein pressure is a domain of intense investigation.SonoVue(?)microbubbles are considered as promising acoustic sensors for noninvasive portal vein pressure estimation.In this study,we aimed to experimentally demonstrated the subharmonic scattering signals and optimal incident acoustic pressure of Sono Vue(?)microbubbles at ambient pressure changes from 10 to 40mmHg.MethodsIn this study,a polyvinyl alcohol cryogel(PVA-C)portal vessel-mimicking phantom and a closed-loop dynamic flow experimental system were developed to investigate the subharmonic scattering power and optimal incident acoustic pressure of SonoVue(?)microbubbles at ambient pressure range 10-40mmHg with 10mmHg increments.The data post processing of the received pulses was performed through using MATLAB software to investigate the relationship between the subharmonic amplitude of SonoVue(?)microbubbles and the pressure within vessel-mimicking phantom.ResultsThe results demonstrated that subharmonic response of SonoVue(?)microbubbles exist three stages:first growth stage,saturation and second growth stage.In the first growth stage,the sub-harmonic amplitude grew with the ambient pressure.However,the subharmonic amplitude de-creased with the increasing ambient pressure during the second growth stage.Based on our findings,the subharmonic signals in the second growth stages were more suitable for estimating low ambient pressure.The best correlation between subharmonic amplitudes and ambient pressures was obtained at an incident acoustic pressure of 520 kPa(sensitivity:0.15 dB/mmHg,r2=0.99,RMSE=0.49 mmHg).ConclusionsThe results presented in our study may pave the way for portal vein pressure estimation by using SonoVue(?)microbubbles as acoustic sensors in clinical application.