The 100 Most Cited Papers on Retinal Detachment: A Bibliographic Perspective

Abstract

The 100 most cited papers on retinal detachment (RD) were analyzed using a bibliographic study. The bibliographic databases of the ISI Web of Knowledge were searched, limited to research articles published between 1965-2020 in peer-reviewed journals. The papers were ranked in order of number of citations since publication. Ninety of the 100 most cited papers on RD were published in 12 ophthalmology journals, with 74 of them published in American Journal of Ophthalmology (n=31), Ophthalmology (n=23), Archives of Ophthalmology (n=10), and Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science (n=10); the remaining 10 papers were published in 8 journals from other fields of medical research. All papers in the top 100 were published in English. The 100 most cited papers on RD originated from 12 different countries, with the majority (72 papers) originating from the US. The 100 identified papers represent a mix of clinical trials and animal/laboratory studies. This bibliographic study provides a unique perspective and insight into some of the most influential contributions in RD understanding and management over the last 55 years.

Retinal detachment (RD) is characterized by the accumulation of subretinal fluid, and includes rhegmatogenous, traction, exudative, and combined etiologies.[1] RD, like other posterior segment diseases, was poorly understood before the introduction of the ophthalmoscope in 1851 by Hermann von Helmholtz. Many incorrect explanations of its pathogenesis and many inadequate surgical strategies were proposed by major ophthalmologists of that time, including Albrecht von Graefe, William Bowman, Carl Ferdinand von Arlt, Louis de Wecker, Richard Deutschman, Douglas Argyll-Robertson, Karl Stellwag von Carion, Erik Nordenson, and others

In 1902 Ksawery Galezowski, a Polish ophthalmologist living in Paris reported of the use of ignipuncture in RD treatment, and this technique was later used by Jules Gonin.[2] Gonin commenced his study of the etiology of RD in 1904 and confirmed the work of Theodor Leber that one or more retinal breaks were causative. He was the first to propose a consistent method of RD treatment and in 1919 he presented his surgical results to the Swiss Ophthalmological Society.[3] Surgical techniques were advanced by many, including Guist,[4] Lindner,[5] Larsson,[6] Schepens,[7] Arruga,[8] Pruett,[9] Custodis,[10] Lincoff, [11] and Machemer.[12] These contributions have been reviewed extensively.[3] Although medical journals originate from the 17^th century, the 20^th century use of journal indexes and the practice of counting subsequent citations enabled literature parameterization as it is used today. It is reported that the number of citations reflect an article’s scientific impact and its influence to the field.[13, 14]

The aim of this study was to identify the 100 most-cited papers on RD, in order to provide a bibliographic-historic perspective on the development of knowledge in this field and analyze the impact of some of the most-cited studies.

Methods:

The bibliographic databases of the ISI Web of Knowledge databases were used for the purpose of this study, with the aid of an expert medical librarian. The search was performed using the keyword combination of “retinal detachment”, that had to appear in the title or abstract of the manuscripts. The search included all publications in peer-reviewed journals from 1965 (the earliest year archived in the ISI Web of Knowledge databases) through the date of the search (December 31, 2019). The search included all types of publications (original articles, reviews, meta-analyses, case reports, etc.) and all available journals and sources, not only those specific to the field of ophthalmology.

The papers were then ranked by the number of total citations since publication. Each paper was reviewed, and excluded if it was found not to be relevant to the topic of RD (i.e., the words appeared but the paper was not in the field of ophthalmology, or RD was mentioned but irrelevant to the main subject of the paper). We note that the search did not differentiate between types of RD (rhegmatogenous, tractional, exudative, etc.). After the list of the 100 most-cited papers was finalized, the following details were recorded for each paper: overall number of citations, mean citations per year since publication, journal name, year of publication, names of first and last authors, number of authors, country of origin (determined by the corresponding author), type of study, number of patients included, whether the study was presented in a conference, and its main topic.

Values of the results are presented as mean ± standard deviation. Correlations between year of publication and total number of citations and between the year of publication and mean number of citations per year were analyzed using Pearson’s correlation coefficient, with a p-value of 0.05 used to determine statistical significance. Data was analyzed using SPSS for Windows version 20.

Results:

Overall, the search yielded 6561 results, with a total of 68,677 citations. Most were research papers (4176, 63.6%) published in ophthalmology journals (5836, 88.9%). The most common countries of origin were the US (1890, 28.8%), Japan (562, 8.6%), the UK (446, 6.8%), France (315, 4.8%) and Germany (282, 4.3%).

The 100 most-cited papers on RD, according to this methodology, are presented in Table 1. The mean number of total citations was 142 ± 64, with a median of 121 citations and a range of 88 to 479.

Table 1:

The top 100 most-cited manuscripts on retinal detachment, included in this study. Manuscripts are listed in order of descending number of total citations since publication. The average citations per year for each manuscript are also provided.

Title	Authors	Source Title	Publication Year	Total Citations	Average Per Year
Pigment Epithelium Proliferation in Retinal-Detachment (Massive Periretinal Proliferation)	Machemer, R; Laqua, H	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1975	479 y	10.64
An Updated Classification of Retinal-Detachment with Proliferative Vitreoretinopathy	Machemer, R; Aaberg, TM; Freeman, HM; Irvine, AR; Lean, JS; Michels, RM	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1991	380	13.1
The Classification of Retinal-Detachment with Proliferative Vitreoretinopathy	Hilton, G	Ophthalmology	1983	365	9.86
Pigment Epithelial Proliferation in Human Retinal-Detachment with Massive Peri-Retinal Proliferation	Machemer, R; Vanhorn, D; Aaberg, TM	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1978	279	6.64
Scleral Buckling Versus Primary Vitrectomy in Rhegmatogenous Retinal Detachment - A Prospective Randomized Multicenter Clinical Study	Heimann, H; Bartz-Schmidt, KU; Bornfeld, N; Weiss, C; Hilgers, RD; Foerster, MH	Ophthalmology	2007	268	20.62
Apoptotic Photoreceptor Degeneration in Experimental Retinal-Detachment	Cook, B; Lewis, GP; Fisher, SK; Adler, R	Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science	1995	262	10.48
Tractional Retinal Detachment Following Intravitreal Bevacizumab (Avastin) In Patients with Severe Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy	Arevalo, JF.; Maia, M; Flynn, HW Jr.; Saravia, M; Avery, RL; Wu, L; Farah, ME; Pieramici, DJ; Berrocal, MH; Sanchez, JG	British Journal of Ophthalmology	2008	241	20.08
Anomalous Posterior Vitreous Detachment: A Unifying Concept in Vitreo-Retinal Disease	Sebag, J	Graefes Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology	2004	232	14.5
Glial Cell-Proliferation in Retinal-Detachment (Massive Periretinal Proliferation)	Laqua, H; Machemer, R	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1975	231	5.13
Foveal Retinoschisis And Retinal Detachment in Severely Myopic Eyes with Posterior Staphyloma	Takano, M; Kishi, S	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1999	221	10.52
Epidemiology of Retinal-Detachment	Haimann, MH; Burton, TC; Brown, CK	Archives of Ophthalmology	1982	199	5.24
Retinal-Detachment in the Cat - The Outer Nuclear and Outer Plexiform Layers	Erickson, PA; Fisher, SK; Anderson, DH; Stern, WH; Borgula, GA	Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science	1983	195	5.27
Cellular Remodeling in Mammalian Retina: Results from Studies of Experimental Retinal Detachment	Fisher, SK; Lewis, GP; Linberg, KA; Verardo, MR	Progress in Retinal and Eye Research	2005	194	12.93
Experimental Retinal Detachment in Owl Monkey .3. Electron Microscopy of Retina and Pigment Epithelium	Kroll, AJ; Machemer, R	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1968	192	3.69
An International Classification of Retinopathy of Prematurity .2. The Classification of Retinal-Detachment	Patz, A	Archives of Ophthalmology	1987	191	5.79
Retinal-Detachment in the Cat - The Pigment Epithelial-Photoreceptor Interface	Anderson, DH; Stern, WH; Fisher, SK; Erickson, PA; Borgula, GA	Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science	1983	187	5.05
Receptor Interacting Protein Kinases Mediate Retinal Detachment-Induced Photoreceptor Necrosis and Compensate for Inhibition of Apoptosis	Trichonas, G; Murakami, Y; Thanos, A; Morizane, Y; Kayama, M; Debouck, CM; Hisatomi, T; Miller, JW; Vavvas, DG	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America	2010	185	18.5
Monocyte Chemoattractant Protein 1 Mediates Retinal Detachment-Induced Photoreceptor Apoptosis	Nakazawa, T; Hisatomi, T; Nakazawa, C; Noda, K; Maruyama, K; She, H; Matsubara, A; Miyahara, S; Nakao, S; Yin, Y; Benowitz, L; Hafezi-Moghadam, A; Miller, JW	Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences of The United States of America	2007	185	14.23
Changing Concepts of Failures After Retinal-Detachment Surgery	Rachal, WF; Burton, TC	Archives of Ophthalmology	1979	180	4.39
Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein Increases in Muller Cells After Retinal-Detachment	Erickson, Pa; Fisher, SK; Guerin, CJ; Anderson, DH; Kaska, DD	Experimental Eye Research	1987	176	5.33
Cystoid Macular Edema, Retinal-Detachment, And Glaucoma After Nd-Yag Laser Posterior Capsulotomy	Steinert, RF; Puliafito, CA; Kumar, SR; Dudak, SD; Patel, S	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1991	170	5.86
Pars Plana Vitrectomy Without Scleral Buckle for Pseudophakic Retinal Detachments	Campo, RV; Sipperley, J; Sneed, SR; Parke, DW; Dugel, PU; Jacobsen, J; Flindall, RJ	Ophthalmology	1999	167	7.95
5-Fluorouracil - New Applications in Complicated Retinal-Detachment for An Established Antimetabolite	Blumenkranz, M; Hernandez, E; Ophir, A; Norton, EWD; Stern, WH	Ophthalmology	1984	166	4.61
Foveal Microstructure and Visual Acuity After Retinal Detachment Repair Imaging Analysis by Fourier-Domain Optical Coherence Tomography	Wakabayashi, T; Oshima, Y; Fujimoto, H; Murakami, Y; Sakaguchi, H; Kusaka, S; Tano, Y	Ophthalmology	2009	163	14.82
Experimental Retinal Detachment in Owl Monkey .2. Histology of Retina and Pigment Epithelium	Machemer, R	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1968	163	3.13
Prevalence and Characteristics Of Foveal Retinal Detachment Without Macular Hole in High Myopia	Baba, T; Ohno-Matsui, K; Futagami, S; Yoshida, T; Yasuzumi, K; Kojima, A; Tokoro, T; Mochizuki, M	American Journal of Ophthalmology	2003	158	9.29
Intraretinal Proliferation Induced by Retinal-Detachment	Fisher, SK; Erickson, PA; Lewis, GP; Anderson, DH	Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science	1991	158	5.45
Glial Cell-Proliferation in Human Retinal-Detachment with Massive Peri-Retinal Proliferation	Vanhorn, DL; Aaberg, TM; Machemer, R, Fenzl R	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1977	156	3.63
Peripheral Retinal Detachments and Retinal-Pigment Epithelial Atrophic Tracts Secondary to Central Serous Pigment Epitheliopathy	Yannuzzi, LA; Shakin, JL; Fisher, YL; Altomonte, MA	Ophthalmology	1984	155	4.31
Prognosis for Central Vision and Anatomic Reattachment in Rhegmatogenous Retinal-Detachment with Macula Detached	Tani, P; Robertson, DM; Langworthy, A	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1981	154	3.95
Neurite Outgrowth from Bipolar and Horizontal Cells After Experimental Retinal Detachment	Lewis, GP; Linberg, KA; Fisher, SK	Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science	1998	152	6.91
Risk-Factors for Idiopathic Rhegmatogenous Retinal-Detachment	Yannuzzi, LA; Sorenson, JA; Sobel, RS; Daly, JR; Derosa, JT; Seddon, JM; Gragoudas, ES; Puliafito, CA; Gelles, E; Gonet, R; Burton, TC; Culver, J; Metzger, K; Kalbfleisch, N; Zarling, D; Farber, MD; Blair, N; Stelmack, T; Axelrod, A; Waitr, SE; Cross, A; Rolnick, C; Flom, T; Haller, J; Pusin, S; Cassel, G; Applegate, Ca; Seigel, D; Sperduto, RD; Hiller, R; Mowery, R; Chew, E; Tamboli, A; Miller, DT; Sowell, AL; Gunter, EW; Dunn, M; Seddon, JM; Shamban, K; Gelles, E; Lento, D; Alexander, JA; Phillips, DA	American Journal of Epidemiology	1993	150	5.56
A New Approach to Treating Retinal-Detachment with Macular Hole	Gonvers, M; Machemer, R	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1982	148	3.89
Modifications to Custodis Procedure for Retinal Detachment	Lincoff, HA; Baras, I; Mclean, J	Archives of Ophthalmology	1965	147	2.67
Muller Cell and Neuronal Remodeling in Retinal Detachment and Reattachment and Their Potential Consequences for Visual Recovery: A Review and Reconsideration of Recent Data	Fisher, SK; Lewis, GP	Vision Research	2003	145	8.53
Changes in the Expression of Specific Muller Cell-Proteins During Long-Term Retinal-Detachment	Lewis, GP; Erickson, PA; Guerin, CJ; Anderson, DH; Fisher, SK	Experimental Eye Research	1989	143	4.61
National Outcomes of Cataract-Extraction - Retinal-Detachment and Endophthalmitis After Outpatient Cataract-Surgery	Javitt, JC; Street, DA; Tielsch, JM; Wang, Q; Kolb, MM; Schein, O; Sommer, A; Bergner, M; Steinberg, EP	Ophthalmology	1994	139	5.35
Temporary Silicone Oil Tamponade in the Management of Retinal-Detachment with Proliferative Vitreoretinopathy	Gonvers, M	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1985	136	3.89
Limiting Photoreceptor Death and Deconstruction During Experimental Retinal Detachment: The Value Of Oxygen Supplementation	Mervin, K; Valter, K; Maslim, J; Lewis, G; Fisher, S; Stone, J	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1999	133	6.33
Primary Pars Plana Vitrectomy Versus Scleral Buckle Surgery for the Treatment of Pseudophakic Retinal Detachment - A Randomized Clinical Trial	Brazitikos, PD; Androudi, S; Christen, WG; Stangos, NT	Retina-The Journal of Retinal and Vitreous Diseases	2005	130	8.67
Inducible Expression of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor in Adult Mice Causes Severe Proliferative Retinopathy and Retinal Detachment	Ohno-Matsui, K; Hirose, A; Yamamoto, S; Saikia, J; Okamoto, N; Gehlbach, P; Duh, EJ; Hackett, S; Chang, M; Bok, D; Zack, DJ; Campochiaro, PA	American Journal of Pathology	2002	130	7.22
Silicone Oil in the Repair of Complex Retinal Detachments - A Prospective Observational Multicenter Study	Azen, SP; Scott, IU; Flynn, HW Jr; Lai, MY; Topping, TM; Benati, L; Trask, DK; Rogus, LA	Ophthalmology	1998	128	5.82
Aphakic and Phakic Retinal-Detachment .1. Preoperative Findings	Ashrafzadeh, MT; Schepens, CL; Elzeneiny, II; Moura, R; Morse, P; Kraushar, MF	Archives of Ophthalmology	1973	128	2.72
The Epidemiology of Rhegmatogenous Retinal Detachment: Geographical Variation And Clinical Associations	Mitry, D; Charteris, DG; Fleck, BW; Campbell, H; Singh, J	British Journal of Ophthalmology	2010	127	12.7
Ocular Perforation Following Retrobulbar Anesthesia for Retinal-Detachment Surgery	Ramsay, RC; Knobloch, WH	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1978	127	3.02
Retinal Detachment After Clear Lens Extraction for High Myopia - Seven-Year Follow-Up	Colin, J; Robinet, A; Cochener, B	Ophthalmology	1999	126	6
Use of Intravitreal Bevacizumab as a Preoperative Adjunct for Tractional Retinal Detachment Repair in Severe Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy	Chen, E; Park, CH	Retina-The Journal of Retinal and Vitreous Diseases	2006	125	8.93
Glial Remodeling and Neural Plasticity in Human Retinal Detachment with Proliferative Vitreoretinopathy	Sethi, CS; Lewis, GP; Fisher, SK; Leitner, WP; Mann, DL; Luthert, PJ; Charteris, DG	Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science	2005	124	8.27
Bilateral Bullous Exudative Retinal-Detachment Complicating Idiopathic Central Serous Chorioretinopathy During Systemic Corticosteroid-Therapy	Gass, JDM; Little, H	Ophthalmology	1995	122	4.88
Data on Natural History of Retinal Detachment - Further Characterization of Certain Unilateral Nontraumatic Cases	Schepens, CL; Marden, D	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1966	122	2.26
Rapid Changes in the Expression of Glial-Cell Proteins Caused by Experimental Retinal-Detachment	Lewis, GP; Guerin, CJ; Anderson, DH; Matsumoto, B; Fisher, SK	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1994	121	4.65
The Use of Silicone Oil Following Failed Vitrectomy for Retinal-Detachment with Advanced Proliferative Vitreoretinopathy	McCuen, BW; Landers, MB; Machemer, R	Ophthalmology	1985	119	3.4
Changes in the Organization and Expression of Cytoskeletal Proteins During Retinal Degeneration Induced by Retinal-Detachment	Lewis, GP; Matsumoto, B; Fisher, SK	Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science	1995	118	4.72
Relocalization Of Apoptosis-Inducing Factor in Photoreceptor Apoptosis Induced by Retinal Detachment in Vivo	Hisatomi, T; Sakamoto, T; Murata, T; Yamanaka, I; Oshima, Y; Hata, Y; Ishibashi, T; Inomata, H; Susin, SA; Kroemer, G	American Journal of Pathology	2001	116	6.11
Risk Factors for Retinal Detachment After Cataract Surgery - A Population-Based Case-Control Study	Tielsch, JM; Legro, MW; Cassard, SD; Schein, OD; Javitt, JC; Singer, AE; Bass, EB; Steinberg, EP	Ophthalmology	1996	116	4.83
Long-Term Results of Vitrectomy And Silicone Oil in 500 Cases Of Complicated Retinal Detachments	Lucke, KH; Foerster, MH; Laqua, H	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1987	116	3.52
New Hypotheses on The Pathogenesis and Treatment of Serous Retinal-Detachment	Marmor, MF	Graefes Archive for Clinical And Experimental Ophthalmology	1988	115	3.59
The Onset of Pigment Epithelial Proliferation After Retinal-Detachment	Anderson, DH; Stern, WH; Fisher, SK; Erickson, PA; Borgula, GA	Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science	1981	115	2.95
Anatomic and Visual Outcomes of Scleral Buckling Versus Primary Vitrectomy in Pseudophakic and Aphakic Retinal Detachment - Six-Month Follow-Up Results of a Single Operation - Report No. 1	Ahmadieh, H; Moradian, S; Faghihi, H; Parvaresh, MM; Ghanbari, H; Mehryar, M; Heidari, E; Behboudi, H; Banaee, T; Golestan, B	Ophthalmology	2005	114	7.6
The Incidence of Retinal-Detachment Following Extracapsular Cataract-Extraction - A 10-Year Study	Coonan, P; Fung, WE; Webster, RG; Allen, AW; Abbott, RL	Ophthalmology	1985	113	3.23
Silicone Retinopiesis For Retinal Detachment - A Long-Term Clinical Evalution	Watzke, RC	Archives of Ophthalmology	1967	113	2.13
Attenuated Glial Reactions and Photoreceptor Degeneration After Retinal Detachment in Mice Deficient in Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein and Vimentin	Nakazawa, T; Takeda, M; Lewis, GP; Cho, KS; Jiao, J; Wilhelmsson, U; Fisher, SK; Pekny, M; Chen, DF; Miller, JW	Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science	2007	111	8.54
Characterization of Cytokine Responses to Retinal Detachment in Rats	Nakazawa, T; Matsubara, A; Noda, K; Hisatomi, T; She, H; Skondra, D; Miyahara, S; Sobrin, L; Thomas, KL; Chen, DF; Grosskereutz, CL; Hafezi-Moghadam, A; Miller, JW	Molecular Vision	2006	109	7.79
Prevalence, Pathophysiology, And Treatment of Rhegmatogenous Retinal-Detachment in Treated Cytomegalovirus Retinitis	Freeman, WR; Henderly, DE; Wan, WL; Causey, D; Trousdale, M; Green, RL; Rao, NA	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1987	109	3.3
Fgfr1, Signaling, and Ap-1 Expression After Retinal Detachment: Reactive Muller and RPE Cells	Geller, SF; Lewis, GP; Fisher, SK	Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science	2001	108	5.68
Retinal Detachment and Narrow-Angle Glaucoma - Secondary to Inflammatory Pseudotumor Of Uveal Tract	Gass, JDM	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1967	108	2.04
Photoreceptor Apoptosis in Human Retinal Detachment	Arroyo, JG; Yang, L; Bula, D; Chen, DF	American Journal of Ophthalmology	2005	107	7.13
Pigment Epithelium-Derived Factor in the Vitreous is Low in Diabetic Retinopathy and High in Rhegmatogenous Retinal Detachment	Ogata, N; Tombran-Tink, J; Nishikawa, M; Nishimura, T; Mitsuma, Y; Sakamoto, T; Matsumura, M	American Journal of Ophthalmology	2001	107	5.63
Retinal Detachments in Patients with Cytomegalovirus Retinitis	Jabs, DA; Enger, C; Haller, J; Debustros, S	Archives of Ophthalmology	1991	107	3.69
Intraocular Expression of Endostatin Reduces VEGF-Induced Retinal Vascular Permeability, Neovascularization, and Retinal Detachment	Takahashi, K; Saishin, Y; Saishin, Y; Silva, RL; Oshima, Y; Oshima, S; Melia, M; Paszkiet, B; Zerby, D; Kadan, MJ; Liau, G; Kaleko, M; Connelly, S; Luo, TC; Campochiaro, PA	FASEB Journal	2003	105	6.18
Treatment of Retinal Detachment Resulting from Myopic Macular Hole with Internal Limiting Membrane Removal	Kadonosono, K; Yazama, F; Itoh, N; Uchio, E; Nakamura, S; Akura, J; Sawada, H; Ohno, S	American Journal of Ophthalmology	2001	105	5.53
Clinical Risk-Factors for Proliferative Vitreoretinopathy After Retinal-Detachment Surgery	Girard, P; Mimoun, G; Karpouzas, J; Montefiore, G	Retina-The Journal of Retinal and Vitreous Diseases	1994	105	4.04
Vitrectomy Without Scleral Buckling for Primary Rhegmatogenous Retinal-Detachment	Escoffery, RF; Olk, RJ; Grand, MG; Boniuk, I	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1985	103	2.94
Silicone Oil-RMN3 Mixture (Heavy Silicone Oil) as Internal Tamponade for Complicated Retinal Detachment	Wolf, S; Schon, V; Meier, P; Wiedemann, P	Retina-The Journal of Retinal And Vitreous Diseases	2003	102	6
Use of Perfluorohexyl Octane as a Long-Term Internal Tamponade Agent in Complicated Retinal Detachment Surgery	Kirchhof, B; Wong, D; Van Meurs, J; Hilgers, Rd; Macek, M; Lois, N; Schrage, NF	American Journal of Ophthalmology	2002	102	5.67
Apoptotic Photoreceptor Cell-Death After Traumatic Retinal-Detachment in Humans	Chang, CJ; Lai, WW; Edward, DP; Tso, MOM	Archives of Ophthalmology	1995	102	4.08
Silicone Oil in the Treatment of Complicated Retinal Detachments	Yeo, JH; Glaser, BM; Michels, RG	Ophthalmology	1987	102	3.09
Pseudophakic Retinal Detachment	Lois, N; Wong, D	Survey of Ophthalmology	2003	101	5.94
Visual Recovery in Macula-Off Rhegmatogenous Retinal Detachments	Ross, WH; Kozy, DW	Ophthalmology	1998	101	4.59
Incidence of Chronic Glaucoma, Retinal-Detachment and Secondary Membrane Surgery in Pediatric Aphakic Patients	Chrousos, GA; Parks, MM; O’Neill, JF	Ophthalmology	1984	101	2.81
Experimental Retinal Detachment and Reattachment in Rhesus Monkey - Electron Microscopic Comparison of Rods and Cones	Kroll, AJ; Machemer, R	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1969	101	1.98
Microincision Vitrectomy Surgery and Intravitreal Bevacizumab as a Surgical Adjunct to Treat Diabetic Traction Retinal Detachment	Oshima, Y; Shima, C; Wakabayashi, T; Kusaka, S; Shiraga, F; Ohji, M; Tano, Y	Ophthalmology	2009	100	9.09
National Outcomes of Cataract-Extraction .1. Retinal-Detachment After Inpatient Surgery	Javitt, JC; Vitale, S; Canner, JK; Krakauer, H; McBean, AM; Sommer, A	Ophthalmology	1991	99	3.41
Optical Coherence Tomography in the Evaluation of Incomplete Visual Acuity Recovery After Macula-Off Retinal Detachments	Wolfensberger, TJ; Gonvers, M	Graefes Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology	2002	98	5.44
The Perfluorocarbon Gases in The Treatment of Retinal-Detachment	Lincoff, H; Coleman, J; Kreissig, I; Richard, G; Chang, S; Wilcox, LM	Ophthalmology	1983	98	2.65
Ultrahigh-Resolution Optical Coherence Tomography in Patients with Decreased Visual Acuity After Retinal Detachment Repair	Schocket, LS; Witkin, AJ; Fujimoto, JG; Ko, TH; Schuman, JS; Rogers, AH; Baumal, C; Reichel, E; Duker, JS	Ophthalmology	2006	97	6.93
Retinal Detachment in Olmsted County, Minnesota, 1976 Through 1995	Rowe, JA; Erie, JC; Baratz, KH; Hodge, DO; Gray, DT; Butterfield, L; Robertson, DM	Ophthalmology	1999	97	4.62
SMAD3 Is Required for Dedifferentiation of Retinal Pigment Epithelium Following Retinal Detachment in Mice	Saika, S; Kono-Saika, S; Tanaka, T; Yamanaka, O; Ohnishi, Y; Sato, M; Muragaki, Y; Ooshima, A; Yoo, J; Flanders, KC; Roberts, AB	Laboratory Investigation	2004	95	5.94
Causative Factors of Retinal-Detachment in Macular Holes	Morita, H; Ideta, H; Ito, K; Yonemoto, J; Sasaki, K; Tanaka, S	Retina-The Journal of Retinal and Vitreous Diseases	1991	95	3.28
Retinal Detachment Due to Ocular Contusion	Cox, MS; Schepens, CL; Freeman, HM	Archives of Ophthalmology	1966	95	1.76
Experimental Retinal Detachment in Owl Monkey .4. Reattached Retina	Machemer, R	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1968	93	1.79
Functional and Anatomic Outcome of Scleral Buckling Versus Primary Vitrectomy in Pseudophakic Retinal Detachment	Sharma, YR; Karunanithi, S; Azad, RV; Vohra, R; Pal, N; Singh, DV; Chandra, P	Acta Ophthalmologica Scandinavica	2005	92	6.13
Critical Role of Photoreceptor Apoptosis in Functional Damage After Retinal Detachment	Hisatomi, T; Sakamoto, T; Goto, Y; Yamanaka, I; Oshima, Y; Hata, Y; Ishibashi, T; Inomata, H; Susin, SA; Kroemer, G	Current Eye Research	2002	92	5.11
Vitrectomy for Diabetic Traction Retinal-Detachment Involving the Macula	Rice, TA; Michels, RG; Rice, EF	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1983	92	2.49
What Patients Recall of The Preoperative Discussion After Retinal-Detachment Surgery	Priluck, IA; Robertson, DM; Buettner, H	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1979	91	2.22
Experimental Retinal Detachment In Owl Monkey .I. Methods Of Production And Clinical Picture	Machemer, R; Norton, EWD	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1968	90	1.73
The Incidence of Retinal-Detachment in Rochester, Minnesota 1970-1978	Wilkes, SR; Beard, CM; Kurland, LT; Robertson, DM; Ofallon, WM	American Journal of Ophthalmology	1982	89	2.34
Natural-History of Retinal Breaks Without Detachment	Davis, MD	Archives of Ophthalmology	1974	89	1.93
Oral Fluoroquinolones and the Risk of Retinal Detachment	Etminan, M; Forooghian, F; Brophy, JM; Bird, ST; Maberley, D	JAMA-Journal of the American Medical Association	2012	88	11
Pars-Plana Vitrectomy for Diabetic Traction Retinal-Detachment	Aaberg, TM	Ophthalmology	1981	88	2.26

Ninety of the 100 most cited papers on retinal detachment were published in 12 ophthalmology journals, and the remaining 10 papers were published in 8 journals from other fields of research. The ophthalmology journals, in order of number of papers from the list, were American Journal of Ophthalmology (n=31), Ophthalmology (n=23), Archives of Ophthalmology (n=10), Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science (n=10), Retina (n=5), Graefe’s Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology (n=3), British Journal of Ophthalmology (n=2), Experimental Eye Research (n=2), Acta Ophthalmologica Scandinavica (n=1), Current Eye Research (n=1), Progress in Retinal and Eye Research (n=1) and Survey of Ophthalmology (n=1). More than half (54) of the papers were published in two leading journals in ophthalmology - American Journal of Ophthalmology and Ophthalmology – and three-quarters (74) were published in four of them, including Archives of Ophthalmology and Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science.

All papers in the top 100 were published in English. The 100 most cited papers originated from 12 different countries, with the majority (72 papers) originating from the US. Other countries of origin (determined by the corresponding author) included Japan (n=10), United Kingdom (n=4), Germany (n=3), Switzerland (n=3), France (n=2), and Australia, Canada, Greece, India, Iran and Venezuela (n=1 each).

The 100 most cited papers on RD included several types of publication, the most common being clinical studies in human patients (n=53). Of these, 31 were retrospective and 22 were prospective, and 8 reported the results of multicenter studies. Another 26 papers were animal studies and an additional 8 were laboratory experiments. The top 100 list also included 7 review/classification papers, 3 case reports, 2 descriptions of surgical techniques, and one meta-analysis.

Of these 100 papers, 84 are related to rhegmatogenous RD and associated disorders, including proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR), trauma, and experimental RD; 8 are related to tractional retinal detachment (TRD) secondary to neovascular disorders including proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) and retinopathy of prematurity; 4 are related to serous or exudative retinal detachment, including central serous chorioretinopathy; and 4 are miscellaneous (pathologic myopia and vitreomacular interface disorders).

The mean number of authors was 5.1 ± 4.9, ranging from 0 to 43. Eleven papers had only a single author. There were 22 authors who had more than one first or last authorship on a paper in the 100 most cited list, and 9 authors with three or more such authorships. The list was led by R Machemer (n=11), SK Fisher (n=8) and GP Lewis (n=5) (Table 2).

Table 2.

The most cited authors

Author name	Number of first and last authorships
Machemer, R	11
Fisher, SK	8
Lewis, GP	5
Anderson, DH	3
Borgula, GA	3
Gonvers, M	3
Laqua, H	3
Miller, JW	3
Nakazawa, T	3

The 100 most cited papers on RD were published between 1965 and 2012. When further divided by decades, there were 19 papers published between 1965 and 1980, 25 papers published between 1981 and 1990, 23 papers published between 1991 and 2000, and 33 papers published after 2001. Of these, only 3 papers were published after 2010. There was no correlation between year of publication and total number of citations (p=0.42), but a significant correlation was found between the year of publication and mean number of citations per year (p<0.0001). Specifically, later publications on average had significantly higher citations per year.

Discussion:

Over the past 100 years, vitreoretinal surgery has evolved to the point where a previously untreatable disease, rhegmatogenous RD, is now associated with a single-operation success rate of 85-90% in many series.[15] This remarkable success represents the culmination of many basic science and clinical research projects, of which the 100 most cited are reviewed in the present manuscript.

The number of citations an article receives provides an imperfect estimate of the article’s influence. This technique has been published previously.[16-18] including a recently published work from one of our authors (EM) which detailed the 100 most cited papers on vitrectomy.[19]. Retinal detachment is a more heterogeneous subject than vitrectomy, including rhegmatogenous (84%), tractional (8%), serous/exudative (4%) and miscellaneous (4%) etiologies. Accordingly, the 100 most-cited papers in the present manuscript contain a mix of clinical trials and animal/laboratory studies.

All 100 papers were published in English, and 72% originated (as determined by corresponding author) in the US. These findings are similar to those reported in the 100 most cited papers on vitrectomy, in which 99% were in English and 64% originated in the US. This disparity may be due to the prominence of English-language journals, rather than a reflection on the research performed in other nations. Notably, 21% of papers in the present list originated from nations whose first language is not English, including Japan (10%), Germany (3%), Switzerland (2%), France (2%), Greece (1%), Iran (1%) and Venezuela (1%). In addition, it has been reported that US-based authors tend to cite articles from US-published journals more frequently, and to review US-based papers more favorably, which may skew the results.[20-21]

Also similar to the 100 most cited papers on vitrectomy, there was no correlation between the “age” of a publication and the total number of citations; in fact, “newer” papers had significantly more citations per year. This seems counterintuitive but findings from older papers eventually may be considered “common knowledge” not requiring citation, or their findings may be disputed or forgotten over time.[22] Furthermore, Ohba and Nakao have identified papers that received many citations years or decades after publication; they called these papers “delayed recognition publications” or “Sleeping Beauties”.[23]

The four most-cited papers, and five of the top 10, focused on proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR), previously called massive periretinal proliferation. The #1 paper (479 citations) [24] and #9 paper (231 citations) [25] describe Machemer and Laqua’s 1975 animal model of experimental RD in owl monkeys; respectively, they report that both pigment epithelial cells and glial cells contribute to the pathogenesis of what is now called PVR. The #2 [26] and #3 [27] most cited papers are, in reverse order, the 1983 classification of PVR (360 citations) and the 1991 update (380 publications); the updated classification is commonly used today. The #4 paper (279 publications) [28] is Machemer et al.’s 1978 report of electron microscopy of membranes surgically removed from patients with PVR. Collectively, these five manuscripts provide an excellent foundation for our modern understanding of PVR.

The paper with the highest average annual citations rate (20.62) [29] was the 2007 Scleral Buckling Versus Primary Vitrectomy in Rhegmatogenous Retinal Detachment (SPR) study, a prospective randomized multicenter clinical trial which reported significantly greater visual improvement with scleral buckling in phakic eyes, and significantly better anatomic outcomes with vitrectomy in pseudophakic eyes. The paper with the second-highest annual citations rate (20.08) [30] was Arevalo et al.’s 2008 report of the development or progression of TRD following intravitreal bevacizumab in patients with PDR; in this retrospective series, 5.2% of patients developed TRD at a mean of 13 days following injection. The paper with the third-highest annual citations rate (14.82) [31] is Wakabayashi et al.’s 2009 report of optical coherence tomography (OCT) findings in patients following retinal detachment repair; specifically, that the tomographic status of the external limiting membrane and the inner segment/outer segment junctions associate with the visual outcomes. All three of these findings are highly relevant to modern clinical practice.

Unlike the prior study on vitrectomy, the present manuscript includes papers from all biomedical journals, not just ophthalmology journals. This change in methodology had a somewhat modest impact on the results, with eight publications from non-ophthalmic journals. Of these, two papers tied for the most total citations with 185 each, tied for 20^th overall; both were studies of experimental models of RD published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.[32-33]. The limitations of this study include: more recent papers are probably “undercounted” since they have had fewer years to collect citations, self-citations were not excluded, and the most-cited papers are not necessarily the most scientifically important or the most clinically relevant. Nevertheless, these 100 papers are among the most influential contributions in this field of research.

Conclusions:

The 20^th century saw huge progress in understanding both pathogenesis and treatment of retinal detachment. The introduction of literature databases enabled more detailed and versatile literature parameterization, including analysis of the most cited articles. The 100 most cited papers on retinal detachment represent a mix of clinical trials and animal/laboratory studies, all were published in English, and 72% originated in the US. The four most-cited papers focused on PVR and they still constitute the fundamentals for our modern understanding of this entity. Analysis of these highly cited articles provides both perspective and insight into the most influential contributions in this field of research.

Synopsis.

The 100 most cited papers on retinal detachment include both clinical trials and animal/laboratory studies, with a special emphasis on massive periretinal proliferation, now called proliferative vitreoretinopathy.