THE GROWTH RATE OF SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS IN
NEUROMYELITIS OPTICA SPECTRUM DISORDERS
Gisele O. Lima, Diogo C Carvalho, Tauana S Tironi, Izabela C A Duarte, Anderson Silva, Natália C. Talim, Lívia
E. C. Talim, Mariza C. T. Talim, Jane R. Guirado, Juliana M. S. S. Amaral, Rodrigo Kleinpaul, Márcia Prates,
Carolina R. Araujo, Cristiane F. Rocha, Marco A. Lana-Peixoto.
CIEM MS Research Center, Federal University of Minas Gerais Medical School, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Background
Results
Although
the characterization of neuromyelitis optica
(NMO) as a nosological entity is credited to Devic’s and
Gault’s works in 1894, reports on the association of optic
th
nerve and spinal cord abnormalities date from the early 19
century. Knowledge on NMO remained mostly dormant for
about
a
century.
The
description
of
its
immunohistopathology, the identification of NMO-IgG and
aquaporin-4 as the targeted antigen in 2002, 2004 and 2005,
boosted significant interest in the study of the disease. We
studied the growth rates of scientific publications in NMO
and correlate them with milestones in the understanding of
the disease.
We found a total of 2766 papers, 2744 in
MEDLINE/PubMed database, and 22 in reference lists of
papers published prior to 1913. There were 12 descriptions
of NMO patients preceding Devic’s case report. The highest
increases in growth rate of papers in NMO was found in the
decades 1930s’, 1950s’, 1970s’ and 2000s’, and in the 2001,
2004, 2006, and 2007.
V
V
Distribution of publications from 2000 to 2013
20.0%
18.7%
18.0%
17.4%
16.0%
Methods
14.2%
14.0%
We
searched the MEDLINE/PubMed database for
scientific articles up to May 31, 2014, using key MeSH
terms for NMO. The following publications were considered
as milestones.
Milestones
12.0%
10.0%
10.0%
8.0%
7.9%
6.2%
6.0%
4.1%
4.0%
2.0%
Year
10.6%
1.2%
1.8%
1.6%
1.5%
2.2%
2.5%
0.0%
Devic’s and Gault’s publications
1894
Creation of the eponym “Devic’s disease”
1907
Reviews of 70, 200 and over 300 cases
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
1927, 1949, 1958
The identification of high frequency of NMO in Japan
1960
The nationwide survey of demyelinating diseases in Japan
Mandler’s diagnostic criteria
The review of Mayo Clinic cohort
1975
1993
1999
The description of immunohistopathology
2002
Identification of NMO-IgG and its targeted antigen
Wingerchuk et al.’s revised diagnostic criteria and definition of
neuromyelitis optic spectrum disorder
2004, 2005
2006, 2007
Distribution of publications in neuromyelitis optica by periods
2500
2011(72,7%)
2000
1500
1000
Distribution of publications from 1844 to 2013
740 (26,8%)
50.00%
45.00%
44.29%
500
40.00%
35.00%
0
15 (0,5%)
1844-1899
1900-1999
2000-2013
30.00%
28.42%
25.00%
Conclusion
20.00%
There has been a tremendous increase in the growth of
15.00%
10.92%
10.00%
5.00%
4.88%
2.86%
0.00%
0.04% 0.04% 0.04% 0.07% 0.22% 0.14% 0.22% 0.07% 0.04% 0.14% 0.29%
1.48%
5.86%
scientific publications on NMOSD. Growth rates are higher
following publication of the most significant advances in the
understanding of the disease.