Knowledge mapping visualization of the pulmonary ground-glass opacity published in the web of science

Objectives With low-dose computed tomography(CT) lung cancer screening, many studies with an increasing number of patients with ground-glass opacity (GGO) are published. Hence, the present study aimed to analyze the published studies on GGO using bibliometric analysis. The findings could provide a basis for future research in GGO and for understanding past advances and trends in the field. Methods Published studies on GGO were obtained from the Web of Science Core Collection. A bibliometric analysis was conducted using the R package and VOSviewer for countries, institutions, journals, authors, keywords, and articles relevant to GGO. In addition, a bibliometric map was created to visualize the relationship. Results The number of publications on GGO has been increasing since 2011. China is ranked as the most prolific country; however, Japan has the highest number of citations for its published articles. Seoul National University and Professor Jin Mo Goo from Korea had the highest publications. Most top 10 journals specialized in the field of lung diseases. Radiology is a comprehensive journal with the greatest number of citations and highest H-index than other journals. Using bibliometric analysis, research topics on “prognosis and diagnosis,” “artificial intelligence,” “treatment,” “preoperative positioning and minimally invasive surgery,” and “pathology of GGO” were identified. Artificial intelligence diagnosis and minimally invasive treatment may be the future of GGO. In addition, most top 10 literatures in this field were guidelines for lung cancer and pulmonary nodules. Conclusions The publication volume of GGO has increased rapidly. The top three countries with the highest number of published articles were China, Japan, and the United States. Japan had the most significant number of citations for published articles. Most key journals specialized in the field of lung diseases. Artificial intelligence diagnosis and minimally invasive treatment may be the future of GGO.