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Comprehensive Analysis of Global Research on Human Varicocele: A Scientometric Approach

Agarwal A 1 , Finelli R 2 , Durairajanayagam D 3 , Leisegang K 4 , Henkel R 2 , Salvio G 5 Show all authors , Aghamajidi A 6 , Sengupta P 7 , Crisóstomo L 8 , Tsioulou PA 9 , Roychoudhury S 10 , Finocchi F 5 , Darbandi M 11 , Mottola F 12 , Darbandi S 11 , Iovine C 12 , Santonastaso M 13 , Zaker H 14 , Kesari KK 15 , Nomanzadeh A 14 , Gugnani N 16 , Rambhatla A 17 , Duran MB 18 , Ceyhan E 19 , Kandil H 20 , Arafa M 2 , Saleh R 21 , Shah R 22 , Ko E 23 , Boitrelle F 24

Affiliations 

  • 1 American Center for Reproductive Medicine, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA. [email protected]
  • 2 American Center for Reproductive Medicine, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA
  • 3 Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Teknologi Mara, Sungai Buloh Campus, Selangor, Malaysia
  • 4 Department of Physiology, School of Natural Medicine, Faculty of Community and Health Sciences, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, South Africa
  • 5 Department of Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy
  • 6 Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
  • 7 Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Bioscience and Nursing, MAHSA University, Jenjarom, Selangor, Malaysia
  • 8 Unidade Multidisciplinar de Investigação Biomédica (UMIB), Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar (ICBAS), Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
  • 9 Department of Physiology, Group of Physiology of Reproduction and Clinical Embryology, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
  • 10 Department of Life Science and Bioinformatics, Assam University, Silchar, India
  • 11 Fetal Health Research Center, Hope Generation Foundation, Tehran, Iran
  • 12 Department of Environmental, Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Caserta, Italy
  • 13 Department of Women, Children and General and Specialized Surgery, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Naples, Italy
  • 14 Histology and Mcroscopic Analysis Division, RASTA Specialized Research Institute (RSRI), West Azerbaijan Science and Technology Park (WASTP), Urmia, Iran
  • 15 Department of Applied Physics, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland
  • 16 BabySoon Fertility and IVF Center, New Delhi, India
  • 17 Department of Urology, Vattikuti Urology Institute, Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, MI, USA
  • 18 Department of Urology, Samsun Training and Research Hospital, Samsun, Turkey
  • 19 Deparment of Urology, Baskent University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey
  • 20 Fakih IVF Fertility Center, Abu Dhabi, UAE
  • 21 Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Andrology, Faculty of Medicine, Sohag University, Sohag, Egypt
  • 22 Division of Andrology, Department of Urology, Lilavati Hospital and Research Centre, Mumbai, India
  • 23 Department of Urology, Loma Linda University Health, Loma Linda, CA, USA
  • 24 Reproductive Biology, Fertility Preservation, Andrology, CECOS, Poissy Hospital, Poissy, France
World J Mens Health, 2022 01 25.
PMID: 35118839 DOI: 10.5534/wjmh.210202

Abstract

PURPOSE: This study provides a comprehensive analysis of research trends on the etiology, mechanisms, potential risk factors, diagnosis, prognosis, surgical and non-surgical treatment of varicocele, and clinical outcomes before and after varicocele repair.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Varicocele studies published between 1988 and 2020 were retrieved from the Scopus database on April 5, 2021. Original studies on human varicocele were included, irrespective of language. Retrieved articles were manually screened for inclusion in various sub-categories. Bibliometric data was subjected to scientometric analysis using descriptive statistics. Network, heat and geographic mapping were generated using relevant software.

RESULTS: In total, 1,943 original human studies on varicocele were published. These were predominantly from the northern hemisphere and developed countries, and published in journals from the United States and Germany. Network map analysis for countries showed several interconnected nodal points, with the USA being the largest, and Agarwal A. from Cleveland Clinic, USA, being a center point of worldwide varicocele research collaborations. Studies of adolescents were underrepresented compared with studies of adults. Studies on diagnostic and prognostic aspects of varicocele were more numerous than studies on varicocele prevalence, mechanistic studies and studies focusing on etiological and risk factors. Varicocele surgery was more investigated than non-surgical approaches. To evaluate the impact of varicocele and its treatment, researchers mainly analyzed basic semen parameters, although markers of seminal oxidative stress are being increasingly investigated in the last decade, while reproductive outcomes such as live birth rate were under-reported in the literature.

CONCLUSIONS: This study analyzes the publication trends in original research on human varicocele spanning over the last three decades. Our analysis emphasizes areas for further exploration to better understand varicocele's impact on men's health and male fertility.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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