The top-100 most cited articles of biomarkers in congenital heart disease: a bibliometric analysis

Background: Biomarkers have played an important role in the treatment and management of patients with congenital heart disease (CHD). The 100 most frequently cited articles addressing the possible role of biomarkers assessment in treatment and outcomes in patients with CHD were reviewed. Methods: The Web of Science Core Collection database was selected as the database for this selection of publications. CiteSpace 5.7.R1 and VOSviewer 1.6.9 were used to analyze the information. Results: A total of 877 articles referencing cardiac biomarkers and CHD were identified in the search period January 1980-June 2020. After screening, the top 100 most cited articles were finally determined. These articles were published in 56 journals, of which the Pediatric Cardiology published the most articles (n=8). Countries collaboration involved a total of 10 countries, and the visualized map indicated the USA had the strongest collaboration network. Related topics of future research will still focus on prevention, general condition evaluation, surgical prognosis evaluation, and application of natriuretic peptide in CHD. Conclusions: We conducted an insight to acquainting characteristics of highly cited publications of biomarkers in CHD and highlighting the research subjects, global research trends, and network collaboration between countries. Related topics of frontiers will focus on: (I) the application of natriuretic peptide, (II) the diagnostic and prognostic value of genes and their related transcriptional translation agents, (III) the use of biomarkers to evaluate and predict the postoperative injury caused by extracorporeal circulation, (IV) and the application of other biomarkers (such as oxidative stress, homocysteine, and thrombosis) to assess and predict damage circumstance.