Developments and achievements of the clinical neuropathology in China from 1955 to 2009: based on survey of literatures related pathology published in Chinese Journal of Neurology

Abstract

Objective To recognize the developments and achievements of the clinical neuropathology in China from 1955 to 2009. Methods Retrospective survey of literatures related clinical neuropathology published in Chinese Journal of Neurology (CJN) from the first issue in 1955 to the No.12 issue in 2009 was conducted; Total literatures of CJN and literatures of the clinical neuropathology were respectively counted and the percentage of the latter was analyzed in different periods; Proportion of autopsy and biopsy literatures was also analyzed.According to categories of nervous system diseases，their relative percentages were respectively counted.The percentages of clinical neuropathological literatures and autopsy literatures of CJN were compared with the data of the same period of J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry (JNNP). Results (1) The percentages of clinical neuropathological literatures in total literatures of CJN were 18.11% (65/359)，20.81% (103/ 495)，17.05% (22/129)，15.50% (230/1484)，11.58% (176/1520) and 16.04% (309/1927)，respectively，in 1955-1959，1960-1969，1970-1979，1980-1989，1990-1999，2000-2009. The percentage variation trend in different periods from 1955 to 2009 had significant difference (trend χ2=7.977，P=0.005) ; But there was no significant difference in the variation trend of the percentage of clinical neuropathological literatures between CJN and JNNP from 1955 to 2009.(2) The percentages of autopsy in the total clinical neuropathological literatures of CJN from 1995 to 2009 appeared gradually to decline; Compared with JNNP，the percentages of autopsy in the total clinical neuropathological literatures of CJN during 1980-2009 were lower，and there was significant difference in the variation trend of the percentage of autopsy in the total clinical neuropathological literatures between CJN and JNNP.(3) The main types of neurological diseases in the neuropathological literatures were tumors，infectious diseases and cerebrovascular diseases from 1955 to 1989，while myopathies became the most main disease type during 1990-2009; Compared with the same period JNNP，the clinical neuropathological literatures of the rare and difficult diseases and neurodegenerative diseases in CJN were relatively less. Conclusions Neuropathology is important in the clinical neuroscience research.From 1955 to 2009，main achievements of clinical neuropathological researches in China mainland lie in tumors，cerebrovascular diseases，infectious diseases and myopathies.But in recent years，due to the lack of autopsy cases，it is to the disadvantage of exploring pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases and understanding some rare and difficult diseases. Key words: Pathology，clinical; Nervous system diseases; Bibliometrics; Periodicals; Retrospective studies