literature-seed.md

OpenScar Literature Seed

This is a starter map, not a formal review. Its purpose is to define the first literature buckets OpenScar should track before a scoping review or manuscript is written.

Bucket 1: Scar Imaging and Objective Assessment

Core question: how can scar appearance be captured, standardized, segmented, scored, and compared across time?

Seed topics:

• standardized scar photography
• before/after image comparability
• scar color, height, pliability, and vascularity assessment
• computer vision for scar segmentation
• patient-reported and observer-reported scar scales
• image quality bias in aesthetic and reconstructive outcomes

Starter search prompts:

• scar assessment computer vision photography standardization
• hypertrophic scar image analysis deep learning
• keloid scar segmentation artificial intelligence
• before after photography bias plastic surgery

Bucket 2: Keloid Recurrence Prediction

Core question: which clinical, anatomical, treatment, and follow-up variables help explain recurrence after keloid treatment?

Seed topics:

• recurrence after surgical excision
• adjuvant radiotherapy timing and dose
• injection-based treatment response
• anatomical site and tension
• prior recurrence history
• follow-up duration and recurrence definition
• machine learning for keloid recurrence risk

Starter search prompts:

• keloid recurrence prediction machine learning
• keloid surgery radiotherapy recurrence risk factors
• keloid treatment response prediction
• hypertrophic scar recurrence clinical model

Bucket 3: Single-Cell and Spatial Fibrosis Biology

Core question: how can fibroblast states, immune cells, vascular niches, and extracellular matrix programs explain scar phenotype and treatment response?

Seed topics:

• keloid single-cell RNA sequencing
• fibroblast heterogeneity in scar and fibrosis
• spatial transcriptomics of skin wound healing
• myofibroblast and extracellular matrix programs
• immune microenvironment in keloids
• ligand-receptor interactions in scar tissue

Starter search prompts:

• keloid single cell RNA sequencing fibroblast
• hypertrophic scar spatial transcriptomics
• skin wound healing single cell atlas fibrosis
• keloid immune microenvironment fibroblast interaction

Bucket 4: Treatment Response and Longitudinal Outcomes

Core question: how should OpenScar define and measure response when patients receive multimodal and repeated treatments?

Seed topics:

• corticosteroid injection response
• 5-fluorouracil injection response
• laser and energy-based scar therapy
• silicone, pressure, and conservative care
• surgery plus adjuvant therapy
• multimodal treatment sequencing
• patient-reported pain, itch, satisfaction, and function

Starter search prompts:

• keloid corticosteroid injection response outcome
• 5-fluorouracil keloid treatment response
• laser treatment hypertrophic scar outcome scale
• scar treatment patient reported outcome POSAS

Bucket 5: AI-Native Scar Registry Design

Core question: what can scar research borrow from AI-native registries, digital twin language, and longitudinal phenotype modeling without overstating clinical readiness?

Seed topics:

• longitudinal clinical registry design
• de-identified image registry governance
• digital phenotype standards
• plastic surgery outcomes databases
• human-in-the-loop clinical AI
• clinical decision support safety boundaries

Starter search prompts:

• clinical image registry de-identification plastic surgery
• longitudinal phenotype modeling clinical registry
• human in the loop clinical AI safety
• plastic surgery outcomes registry artificial intelligence

Review Rules

• Track study type, cohort size, data modality, outcome definition, follow-up duration, and external validation status.
• Separate clinical evidence from speculative model claims.
• Do not cite a paper in public materials until the source has been checked directly.
• Treat recurrence definitions as a major source of heterogeneity.