Abstract: Objective Transient elastography (TE) has been widely used in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The purpose of this study is to help researchers grasp the research topics, research directions, hot spots and frontiers of TE in the field of NAFLD. Methods Based on the literatures about NAFLD and TE included in the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-E) in the Web of Science (WOS), author, institution, country and keyword co-occurrence analysis were conducted by using CiteSpace 5.8 software. Co-citation analysis of cited authors, literatures and journals, and drawing visual atlas were conducted. Results After data retrieval and review, a total of 1685 articles were obtained. The United States, China, Italy, Japan and other countries were the most published countries. Major research institutes included the Chinese University of Hong Kong, University of California, Yonsei University, etc. Prolific authors included Wong VWS, Rohit Loomba, etc. High-frequency keywords included transient elastography, fibrosis, diagnosis, fatty degeneration and controlled attenuation parameters. The clustering direction could be divided into NAFLD, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, hepatocyte steatosis, fibrosis and non-invasive diagnosis. The high-intensity breakout words were biological diagnostic markers, epidemiology, management, fibrosis degree measurement and so on. The research stage of this field could be roughly divided into three periods: exploration period, experience summary period, promotion and application period. Conclusion Visual analysis of TE in NAFLD using Citespace software shows that the application of TE in large-scale epidemiological investigation or disease management is the hot spot and trend of future research in NAFLD.

Key words: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, Bibliometrics, Instantaneous elastic imaging technique, Visual analysis, CiteSpace