Critical Care Echocardiography: A Bibliometric Analysis of Knowledge Structure and Evolution of Development Trends From 2005 to 2024.

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to conduct a bibliometric analysis in the field of critical care echocardiography (CCE) and further discusses the knowledge structure and research hotspots, so as to construct a systematic framework that can provide reference for future research work in this field.

METHODS

We collected the data from the Web of Science database, with February 21, 2025 being the cut-off date. Subsequently, a bibliometric analysis and visual mapping analysis were carried out on the collected articles by using CiteSpace and VOSviewer.

RESULTS

The United States leads CCE research in publications. Among institutions, the Paris Public Hospital Assistance (APHP) tops in output. From the author's dimension, Mcnamara PJ was identified as the most productive author. In terms of academic journals, the Journal of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesia leads in the number of published research results on CCE. The three most frequently occurring keywords were "echocardiogram," "ICU," and "NICU." The keywords that have emerged more frequently recently were "COVID-19," "cardiogenic shock," and "point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS)." Keyword cluster analysis indicated that this field can be divided into six sub-fields, namely "congenital heart disease," "cardiac arrest," "sepsis," "heart failure," "patent ductus arteriosus," and "intensive care unit." Furthermore, we performed subgroup analyses specifically focusing on the application of CCE in COVID-19 patients and pediatric CCE, respectively.

CONCLUSION

We conducted statistical and visual analyses of the literature related to CCE, presenting the field's knowledge structure and hotspots, offering references for relevant scholars.