An Scientometric Analysis of Endo, Myo and Pericarditis

Despite the advancement in medicine, management of heart failure (HF), which usually presents as a disease syndrome, has been a challenge to healthcare providers. This is reflected by the relatively higher rate of readmissions along with increased mortality and morbidity associated with HF. In this review article, we first provide a general overview of types of HF pathogenesis and diagnostic features of HF including the crucial role of exercise in determining the severity of heart failure, the efficacy of therapeutic strategies and the morbidity/mortality of HF. We then discuss the quality control measures to prevent the growing readmission rates for HF. We also attempt to elucidate published and ongoing clinical trials for HF in an effort to evaluate the standard and novel therapeutic approaches, including stem cell and gene therapies, to reduce the morbidity and mortality

Inflammation of the heart can be classified as endocarditis, myocarditis or pericarditis, depending on the tissue affected. These disorders can lead to sudden cardiac death and/or chronic heart insufficiency. They are associated with a high mortality rate (e.g., cardiac valve insufficiency after endocarditis). The numbers of publications about endocarditis, myocarditis and pericarditis have grown considerably, especially in the past 20 years.

Inflammation of the heart can be classified as endocarditis, myocarditis or pericarditis, depending on the tissue affected. These disorders can lead to sudden cardiac death and/or chronic heart insufficiency. They are associated with a high mortality rate (e.g., cardiac valve insufficiency after endocarditis). The numbers of publications about endocarditis, myocarditis and pericarditis have grown considerably, especially in the past 20 years.

Simply stated, pericarditis is the inflammation of the pericardium. Pericarditis is frequently asymptomatic and rarely diagnosed in the ED until the classic symptoms (e.g., chest pain, pericardial friction rub) and characteristic electrocardiogram (ECG) changes appear. Pericarditis can be life-threatening or indicate an underlying systemic disorder. The disease typically occurs in adult men.

MYOCARDITIS

Myocarditis is inflammation of the myocardium, often in response to a viral infection. Although most cases of myocarditis are subclinical, a permanently debilitating dilated cardiomyopathy can develop. Identifying the exact cause of myocarditis can be difficult, often requiring a tissue biopsy. Consequently, most cases are classified as idiopathic. 

ENDOCARDITIS

The overall mortality of infectious endocarditis (IE) is 17.8% to 21.4%. In patients with infected prosthetic valves, the mortality ranges from 20% to 64.2%.24, 29, 43, 52, 55 Recent use of echocardiogram has dramatically improved the diagnostic evaluation of IE.

PATHOPHYSIOLOGY

The establishment of vegetation on the endothelial lining of the heart or on a prosthetic valve is necessary for the endocarditis to occur. Congenital or acquired valvular damage predisposes one to IE. Abnormal valvular thickening, mechanical damage, mitral valve prolapse (MVP), congenital heart diseases, rheumatic valvular diseases, a prosthetic valve, and intravenous drug abuse (IVDA) all cause valvular injury.

Data Categorization

All data files were analyzed according to the following aspects: their country of origin, cooperation among countries, the most productive journals, the date of publication and the most productive authors. Data were automatically transformed into Excel files and visualized as diagrams.

Density-Equalizing Mapping

The distribution of the total number of published items and average citation rates per country were visualized by applied calculations of Gastner and Newman’s algorithms. Thereby territories were resized according to a particular variable, i.e., the number of published items and the average citation rate according to a recently published method

H-Index

The h-index is a measure of researchers’ scientific quality. Scientists’ h-indices depend on how many items they have published and on how often those articles have been cited. For instance, an author who published ten articles, each of which was cited at least ten times, has an h-index of ten. If only seven of the ten have been cited at least seven times each, the h-index would be seven.

Although there have been no quantum leap in the diagnosis or treatment of endo-, myo- and pericarditis , we expect that the numbers of heart inflammation publications will continue to rise in the future because modern scientific funding policies put pressure on scientists to publish more items than scientific progress warrants . The resultant informational overload deems it necessary for researchers and clinicians to sift through the numerous publications and assess their merit.