FIG 2.

Sustained sputum culture conversion (SSCC) with initial macrolide-containing regimens. The forest plot depicts 13 studies comprising 16 macrolide-containing regimens that were examined as initial therapy in 223 treatment-naive patients with M. abscessus subsp. abscessus (designated Maa), 141 treatment-naive patients with M. abscessus subsp. massiliense (designated Mam), and 213 treatment-naive patients with M. abscessus with no subspecies specified (designated MaNSS). Risk of bias assessed for each effect size (ES) estimate is shown in the extreme right column. Despite the marked heterogeneity between these regimens (overall I² value of >90%), patients with M. abscessus subsp. abscessus were significantly less likely to have SSCC than patients with M. abscessus subsp. massiliense, as shown by noninterloping confidence intervals between the two subspecies.