Heat stroke (HS) patients are often treated symptomatically and conservatively; there remains a lack of specific and effective drugs in clinical practice. 

The purpose of a new study published in Military Medical Research was to analyze research progress and trends regarding HS.

This study entailed extraction of relevant publication contributions from institutions, journals and authors in different countries/regions, between 1989 and 2019 from Web of Science. Statistical analyses were performed and research trends in HS were analyzed.

Overall, 1 443 publications were identified, with a citation frequency of 5 216. The United States accounted for the largest number of publications (36.2%) and the highest number of citations (14 410), as well as the highest H-index at 74. The sum of publications from China ranked second, however, there was a contradiction between the quantity and quality of publications. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise published the most papers related to HS, with Lin MT publishing the most papers in this field (112) while the review by Knochel JP received the highest citation frequency at 969. In the clinical research cluster, exertional heat-stroke was the most popular, while ambient-temperature and heat waves were the new trends in epidemiological research.

It was inferred that the mismatch between the quantity and quality of publications from China must be examined. It was speculated that clinical and epidemiological studies may become hotspots in the near future.

Source: Military Medical Research. 2021 Jan 21;8(1):5. doi: 10.1186/s40779-021-00300-z.