Spine and Intervertebral Disc Pathology

Spine and Intervertebral Disc Pathology is a research topic within Pathology and Forensic Medicine. Science Explorer counts 73k research works in it since 1950. 9.9% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers focuses on the pathophysiology, treatment, and outcomes related to lumbar disc degeneration, including topics such as intervertebral disc biology, surgical interventions, low back pain, spinal fusion, and biological aging of the discs. It covers a wide range of research from clinical studies to basic science investigations.

Lumbar Disc Degeneration
Intervertebral Disc
Spinal Surgery
Low Back Pain
Surgical Treatment
Nucleus Pulposus
Degenerative Disc Disease
Biological Aging
Spinal Fusion
Clinical Outcomes

Research works: 73k
In the world top 10%: 7.2k
Top-10% rate: 9.9%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25: +17%
Largest producer: United States

Spine and Intervertebral Disc Pathology

This ranks research output and citation impact. It says nothing about the quality of diagnosis, treatment or care.

Which countries lead Spine and Intervertebral Disc Pathology research?

By volume, the United States and China publish the most (3.9k and 3.1k works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

1 United States 3.9k works
2 China 3.1k works
3 India 902 works
4 Japan 822 works
5 South Korea 697 works
6 Germany 533 works
7 Türkiye 493 works
8 United Kingdom 478 works
9 Italy 385 works
10 Canada 334 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States3,926 · 33.6%China3,100 · 26.6%India902 · 7.7%Japan822 · 7.0%6 others listed2,921 · 25.0%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Spine and Intervertebral Disc Pathology research?

By volume in 2022-now, Capital Medical University publishes the most Spine and Intervertebral Disc Pathology research, followed by Harvard University and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

By volume, 2022-now

1 Capital Medical UniversityChina 125 works
2 Harvard UniversityUnited States 110 works
3 Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer CenterUnited States 105 works
4 Peking UniversityChina 97 works
5 Neurological SurgeryUnited States 86 works
6 Sichuan UniversityChina 86 works
7 Mayo ClinicUnited States 84 works
8 All India Institute of Medical SciencesIndia 77 works
9 Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityChina 73 works
10 Cornell UniversityUnited States 71 works

Who are the leading researchers in Spine and Intervertebral Disc Pathology?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Spine and Intervertebral Disc Pathology include Theo Vos, George Davey Smith and Julian P. T. Higgins.

1 Theo Vos United States 439k citations
2 George Davey Smith United Kingdom 435k citations
3 Julian P. T. Higgins United Kingdom 390k citations
4 Ronald C. Kessler United States 360k citations
5 Jost Bruno Jonas Germany 350k citations
6 Cyrus Cooper United Kingdom 342k citations
7 Jun Wang China 340k citations
8 Mika Kivimäki United Kingdom 318k citations
9 Gordon Henry Guyatt Canada 315k citations
10 Dan J. Stein South Africa 306k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Spine and Intervertebral Disc Pathology?

The most cited paper in Spine and Intervertebral Disc Pathology is "The Oswestry Disability Index" (Jeremy C. T. Fairbank, Paul B. Pynsent, 2000), with 5,809 citations. Next come "Measures of adult pain: Visual Analog Scale for Pain (VAS Pain), Numeric Rating Scale for Pain (NRS Pain), McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ), Short‐Form McGill Pain Questionnaire (SF‐MPQ), Chronic Pain Grade Scale (CPGS), Short Form‐36 Bodily Pain Scale (SF‐36 BPS), and Measure of Intermittent and Constant Osteoarthritis Pain (ICOAP)" (4,981) and "Magnetic Resonance Classification of Lumbar Intervertebral Disc Degeneration" (4,061).

Most cited papers
#	Paper	Released	Citations
1	The Oswestry Disability Index Jeremy C. T. Fairbank, Paul B. Pynsent · Spine	Nov 2000	5,809
2	Measures of adult pain: Visual Analog Scale for Pain (VAS Pain), Numeric Rating Scale for Pain (NRS Pain), McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ), Short‐Form McGill Pain Questionnaire (SF‐MPQ), Chronic Pain Grade Scale (CPGS), Short Form‐36 Bodily Pain Scale (SF‐36 BPS), and Measure of Intermittent and Constant Osteoarthritis Pain (ICOAP) GILLIAN A. HAWKER, Samra Mian, Tetyana Kendzerska et al. · Arthritis Care & Research	Nov 2011	4,981
3	Magnetic Resonance Classification of Lumbar Intervertebral Disc Degeneration Christian W. A. Pfirrmann, Alexander Metzdorf, Marco Zanetti et al. · Spine	Sep 2001	4,061
4	The development of Assessment of SpondyloArthritis international Society classification criteria for axial spondyloarthritis (part II): validation and final selection Martín Rudwaleit et al. · Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases Open access	18 Mar 2009	3,707
5	A Study of the Natural History of Back Pain Martin O Roland, Richard William Morris · Spine	Mar 1983	3,409

All 99 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Spine and Intervertebral Disc Pathology research done?

The largest centres of Spine and Intervertebral Disc Pathology research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Seoul (South Korea), New York (United States) and Shanghai (China). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Rockville Centre.

Largest cities, 2022-now

1 BeijingChina 434 works
2 SeoulSouth Korea 353 works
3 New YorkUnited States 294 works
4 ShanghaiChina 254 works
5 TokyoJapan 183 works
6 IstanbulTürkiye 178 works
7 GuangzhouChina 171 works
8 PhiladelphiaUnited States 170 works
9 ChengduChina 129 works
10 ChicagoUnited States 122 works

Where it is the local speciality

Rockville CentreUS · 86.3 works40×

← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Spine and Intervertebral Disc Pathology than the world average.

See Spine and Intervertebral Disc Pathology on the map

Where is the best place to study Spine and Intervertebral Disc Pathology?

Among universities, judged by research, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Lanzhou University and Capital Medical University score highest, combining citation excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Citation excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged

40%

Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share

10%

Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale

30%

Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%

10%

Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad

10%

Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.

#	University	Score	Top 10%	Specialisation	Works	Growth
1	Huazhong University of Science and TechnologyChina	72.0	33.9%	1.8×	44	+37.7%
2	Lanzhou UniversityChina	69.3	33.5%	2.5×	24	+122.6%
3	Capital Medical UniversityChina	68.6	15.9%	8.5×	125	+96.3%
4	Università Campus Bio-MedicoItaly	67.8	22.9%	19.9×	28	+158.2%
5	Cornell UniversityUnited States	67.6	16.6%	3.9×	71	+28.8%
6	Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityChina	66.8	21.7%	1.9×	74	+28.2%
7	Sun Yat-sen UniversityChina	66.3	23.3%	2.1×	61	+51.2%
8	Soochow UniversityChina	65.4	23.6%	4.0×	54	+25.2%
9	Tokai UniversityJapan	64.6	26.1%	11.8×	18	+32.1%
10	Sichuan UniversityChina	64.1	19.0%	2.8×	86	+50.3%
11	University of Hong KongChina	63.5	21.3%	2.1×	27	+29.6%
12	Brown UniversityUnited States	61.2	18.3%	6.8×	44	+22.9%
13	Peking UniversityChina	60.4	14.8%	3.4×	97	+2.3%
14	Fujian Medical UniversityChina	59.8	20.9%	5.1×	38	+80.4%
15	Southern Medical UniversityChina	59.5	20.2%	5.5×	47	+29.8%
16	Wenzhou Medical UniversityChina	59.3	22.3%	5.3×	37	+7.4%
17	Duke UniversityUnited States	58.8	13.4%	3.7×	42	+52.2%
18	University of ZurichSwitzerland	58.3	17.1%	3.5×	34	+7.9%
19	Hebei Medical UniversityChina	58.0	12.5%	12.8×	60	+25.5%
20	Yale UniversityUnited States	57.8	13.7%	2.4×	37	+50.2%
21	UNSW SydneyAustralia	57.8	26.5%	1.8×	22	-10.8%
22	Chinese University of Hong KongChina	57.8	21.1%	1.8×	18	+28.2%
23	Harvard UniversityUnited States	57.1	11.6%	2.5×	110	-16.8%
24	Zhejiang UniversityChina	56.3	21.2%	1.4×	50	-0.2%
25	Anhui Medical UniversityChina	55.8	17.5%	5.8×	36	+142.4%
26	Fudan UniversityChina	55.8	22.5%	1.6×	35	+18.4%
27	Yonsei UniversitySouth Korea	55.0	13.3%	4.1×	51	+17.8%
28	Zhejiang Chinese Medical UniversityChina	54.6	17.4%	8.0×	27	+279.9%
29	University of TorontoCanada	54.5	12.8%	1.9×	52	-9.4%
30	Dalian Medical UniversityChina	54.3	18.5%	7.8×	22	+129.0%
31	Maastricht UniversityNetherlands	54.2	10.3%	3.4×	19	+19.9%
32	University of PittsburghUnited States	53.9	17.3%	2.6×	28	+65.9%
33	Case Western Reserve UniversityUnited States	53.2	7.1%	5.5×	46	+65.5%
34	Nanjing Medical UniversityChina	53.0	14.4%	3.5×	43	+34.2%
35	Vanderbilt UniversityUnited States	52.8	10.9%	3.9×	39	+52.9%
36	ETH ZurichSwitzerland	52.7	14.4%	1.7×	16	+38.2%
37	Seoul National UniversitySouth Korea	52.6	16.8%	3.2×	50	-10.4%
38	Kunming Medical UniversityChina	52.6	19.6%	6.3×	21	+164.2%
39	New York Medical CollegeUnited States	52.5	15.7%	8.9×	28	+62.1%
40	Shandong University of Traditional Chinese MedicineChina	52.4	26.9%	5.2×	9	+261.2%
41	Southeast UniversityChina	51.7	28.7%	0.8×	17	+15.4%
42	Thomas Jefferson UniversityUnited States	51.5	14.6%	10.1×	30	-5.5%
43	Johns Hopkins UniversityUnited States	50.8	12.7%	2.8×	60	-20.2%
44	All India Institute of Medical SciencesIndia	49.5	4.1%	5.1×	77	+31.0%
45	Catholic University of KoreaSouth Korea	49.5	11.8%	10.3×	47	-10.8%
46	Xinjiang Medical UniversityChina	49.4	13.9%	11.9×	28	+215.1%
47	Yangzhou UniversityChina	49.1	29.2%	1.2×	9	+31.4%
48	University of South ChinaChina	48.1	26.5%	2.7×	10	+37.7%
49	International University of Health and WelfareJapan	45.8	19.6%	10.2×	11	+77.4%
50	Saint Joseph UniversityLebanon	44.9	13.0%	12.7×	9	+108.8%
51	National University of SingaporeSingapore	44.5	15.8%	0.9×	15	+38.1%
52	National University Health SystemSingapore	43.5	9.7%	11.9×	11	-4.3%
53	Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityChina	43.1	14.4%	0.8×	10	+79.8%
54	University of Missouri–Kansas CityUnited States	42.6	0.9%	23.4×	46	+147.4%
55	Karolinska InstitutetSweden	40.6	16.3%	1.6×	12	-29.1%
56	University of GenevaSwitzerland	35.4	7.7%	1.7×	9	+24.1%
57	King Saud UniversitySaudi Arabia	29.8	7.3%	0.8×	10	+7.5%

Universities only. The score blends citation excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Spine and Intervertebral Disc Pathology, country by country

Is Spine and Intervertebral Disc Pathology research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 17% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Spine and Intervertebral Disc Pathology.

grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Spine and Intervertebral Disc Pathology as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.066% in 2024.

Fractional works of Spine and Intervertebral Disc Pathology over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

Discussion

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Which countries lead Spine and Intervertebral Disc Pathology research?

By volume, 2022-now

How concentrated that is

Which institutions lead Spine and Intervertebral Disc Pathology research?

By volume, 2022-now

Who are the leading researchers in Spine and Intervertebral Disc Pathology?

What are the most cited papers in Spine and Intervertebral Disc Pathology?

Where is Spine and Intervertebral Disc Pathology research done?

Largest cities, 2022-now

Where it is the local speciality

Where is the best place to study Spine and Intervertebral Disc Pathology?

Is Spine and Intervertebral Disc Pathology research growing?

Its share of all research

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Which topics inside it are moving

Related research

Discussion