Global Hotspots and Research Frontiers of Moyamoya Disease and Radiological Features: A Bibliometric Analysis

BACKGROUND: Moyamoya disease (MMD) is a cerebrovascular disorder characterized by the progressive stenosis of the intracranial internal carotid artery and the development of a collateral network in the brain. As medical imaging technology and artificial intelligence have advanced, various imaging methods have been widely used in the clinical diagnosis of MMD. In this study, we conducted bibliometric visualization of research papers about MMD and radiological features between 2000 and 2024, intending to explore the development status quo, hotspots, and future developments and contributing to studies on imaging in diagnosis of cerebrovascular diseases. METHODS: The Web of Science Core Collection was chosen as the source of publications for this study. By using VOSviewer and CiteSpace, articles were analyzed in terms of authors, countries, institutions, references, keywords, cited literatures, and so on. RESULTS: We retrieved a collection of 1003 articles that substantiate a progressively ascendant trend in articles over the past 24 years. Japan, South Korea, and China were 3 major countries in this field. China's Capital Medical University was the leader in publication output, followed by Hokkaido University from Japan and Seoul National University from South Korea. The 3 authors with the most publications were Miki Fujimura, Teiji Tominaga, and Dong Zhang. World Neurosurgery was the journal with the most publications (85), while Stroke was the journal with the most cocitations (3305) in this field. Excluding MMD, the top 3 most frequently occurring keywords were "revascularization", "stroke", and "magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)". "High-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (HRMRI)", "digital subtraction angiography (DSA)", and "vessel wall imaging" were the top 3 keywords of recent interest in the field of radiological features. CONCLUSIONS: This article provides a scientific perspective from which researchers, especially doctors in neurosurgery and radiodiagnosis departments can visually find out about important trends and new areas of research directions in the field of MMD and radiological features.