Insight into the history and trends of liver transplantation for echinococcosis: A bibliometric analysis

Background: Liver transplantation (LT) has demonstrated favorable efficacy in managing end-stage alveolar echinococcosis. Nevertheless, the current research focal points and advancement trends remain ambiguous.

Aim: To map the research landscape to underscore critical areas of focus, influential studies, and future directions of LT for echinococcosis treatment.

Methods: Publications on LT for echinococcosis treatment published between 1900 and 2023 were searched in the Web of Science database and analyzed using bibliometrics.

Results: A total of 14 countries/regions, 75 institutions, and 499 authors have published research articles, with China, Turkey, and France being the three most productive countries. The four institutions with the most contributions were Sichuan University, Xinjiang Medical University, the University de Franche Comte, and Inonu University. The three authors who contributed the most were Wen Hao, Wang Wentao, and Bresson Hadni Solange. The four most common keywords were alveolar echinococcosis, LT, ex-vivo liver resection and autotransplantation, and echinococcosis multilocularies.

Conclusion: Our study found that the treatment of complications after LT for echinococcosis treatment and the preoperative surgical plan based on the anatomical relationship between the lesion and the blood vessel are early research hotspots. Recent research focuses on the treatment of complications after ex-vivo liver resection and autotransplantation, especially vascular complications.