TY - JOUR AU - Lin, Yihan AU - Till, Brian M. AU - Yi, Sojung AU - Dahm, James S. AU - Taylor, Kathryn AU - Lu, Nguyen AU - Zilla, Peter AU - Bolman, Ralph M. PY - 2020/01/29 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - Cardiac surgery publications in Africa over the last 20 years: A literature review JF - South African Journal of Science JA - S. Afr. J. Sci. VL - 116 IS - 1/2 SE - Review Article DO - 10.17159/sajs.2020/6359 UR - https://sajs.co.za/article/view/6359 SP - AB - <p>There is a significant burden of surgically correctable cardiovascular disease in Africa. The goal of this research was to review the last 20 years of literature on this topic. A systematic search was performed using PubMed, Embase and African Index Medicus for the period 1996–2016. Publications came from 29 countries, all of different income brackets. Research output increased by 15-fold over the 20-year time period, with the majority of publications authored by local teams (71.4%) compared to visiting (4.9%) and mixed teams (23.7%). Although increasing, clinical reporting on cardiac surgery is still limited. Increased publication of results should be encouraged to better benchmark capacity and improve research capacity.</p><p><strong>Significance:</strong></p><ul><li>The majority of the cardiovascular publications came from local research teams affiliated with public hospitals which suggests strong local engagement in research and cardiovascular care.</li><li>Research output significantly increased and the share of literature from major research contributors has relatively shrunk over the study period, which suggests emerging research capacities from previously underrepresented regions.</li><li>A demographic analysis of publications showed that studies were set in countries from all income brackets, with the majority of the studies originating from low-income countries.</li><li>There is a need to standardise reporting of surgical outcomes which is dependent on perioperative care and maintenance of high-quality health records.</li><li>Over half of the publications lacked evidence of outpatient follow-up or data on postoperative care, which highlights the need to focus on patient outcomes as a metric.</li></ul> ER -