Abstract:

Objective This study aims to evaluate research advancement via analysis of the Chinese literature for vascular anomalies published in the last three decades, including the types and mounts of related articles, classification, and treatments used. Methods Data were collected from China National Knowledge Infrastructur, Wanfang data, and VIP database from 1981 to 2011. Publications on vascular anomalies were analyzed per decade. The relationships between classification and literature types, author specialty, publication date, and journal were evaluated. Results A total of 3 645 literature articles were collected. Authors from the oral and maxillofacial surgery department published 25.1% of the total literature. Sclerotherapy is the most widely used treatment, with increases of 25.1% and 6.7% in the last decade than in the previous two decades, respectively. The classification was more commonly used in basic research articles(74.3%) than in clinical articles(23.0%) published in the last decade. The most common incorrect term was “cavernous hemangioma”(43.7%). Conclusion During the past 30 years, articles related to vascular anomalies increased progressively. Sclerotherapy or non-surgical methods and classification were used widely in the last decade. However, non-standard terms or treatments were still found in clinical articles. Thus, treatment guidelines should be spread to hemangiomas and vascular malformations.

Key words: vascular anomalies, hemangioma, terminology, sclerotherapy