Research trends and emerging themes in abdominal aortic calcification: a 2005–2025 bibliometric analysis

BACKGROUND: Abdominal aortic calcification (AAC) is a frequent manifestation of systemic vascular calcification and reflects long-term exposure to aging, metabolic disturbances, inflammation, and disordered mineral metabolism. Unlike coronary artery calcification, AAC more often captures diffuse vascular remodeling and arterial stiffening, features that may also complicate vascular access, aortic clamping, and device deployment during open or endovascular procedures. In recent years, the clinical and biological relevance of AAC has expanded beyond descriptive imaging findings to include implications for procedural planning and perioperative risk assessment. METHODS: In this study, a bibliometric analysis was conducted to systematically evaluate global research trends related to AAC. Publications indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection from January 2005 to December 16, 2025 were retrieved and analyzed. A total of 1,101 publications were included. CiteSpace, VOSviewer, and the Bibliometrix package in R were used to examine publication trends, country and institutional contributions, author collaboration, journal distribution, and keyword evolution. RESULTS: The results show a steady increase in AAC-related publications, with accelerated growth after 2018. China, the United States, and Japan were the leading contributors, while international collaboration was more prominent among Western countries. Research themes evolved from early imaging-based descriptions toward clinical outcomes, mineral metabolism, inflammation, oxidative stress, and vascular remodeling. CONCLUSION: AAC research has expanded substantially over the past two decades, with increasing emphasis on clinical outcomes, chronic kidney disease-related mineral metabolism, and vascular calcification mechanisms. These findings provide a structured overview of the field and may help inform future mechanistic, prognostic, and clinically oriented studies.