Article Text
Abstract
Background and purpose Endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) has revolutionized the management of acute ischemic stroke. Landmark clinical trials have shown EVT to be one of the most efficacious interventions in clinical medicine over the past 5 years. A method of recognition for an article in the scientific community is to use a citation rank list, in order to identify the seminal works in the academic medical literature. The objective of this study was to characterize the 100 most highly cited articles assessing endovascular management of acute ischemic stroke.
Methods We conducted a retrospective bibliometric analysis using the Web of Science Citation Index Expanded database for the most cited works in the endovascular management of acute ischemic stroke. Citation count was used to rank the top 100 articles, which were then analyzed for authorship, year of publication, subject, study type, level of evidence, and subject.
Results The mean number of citations was 245 (range 65–1726) and 394 on Google Scholar. The top 100 articles were cited an average of 43.9 times per year and published in 21 journals in the past two decades. The majority of papers (62) were classified as constituting levels 1, 2, or 3 evidence, and included 17 randomized controlled trials. Approximately two-thirds of the top 100 articles originated from the USA.
Conclusions This study details the most cited articles in the endovascular management of acute ischemic stroke, and furthermore shows that a high proportion of level I evidence exists for this intervention.
- thrombectomy
- intervention
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Footnotes
Contributors KR, DK, and JM performed the literature search, preliminary article analysis, and drafted and revised the paper. KP performed the literature search and preliminary article analysis. HKK monitored the data collection and revised the draft paper. VT revised the draft paper. JAH revised the draft paper. MJL was involved in concept design and revised the draft paper. RVC revised the draft paper. DMB revised the draft paper. HA and JM oversaw the project, concept design, and article analysis, monitored the data collection, and revised the draft paper. All authors contributed substantially to the final article.
Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
Competing interests None declared.
Patient consent Not required.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.