Fig. 2

Forest plot of mRSS changes before and after treatment with MSCs at different time points. The mRSS of SSc patients after MSCs treatment was significantly lower than pretreatment at different follow-up times involving 3, 6, and 12 months (P < 0.05), especially at 12 months. No significant heterogeneity was observed in any of the three groups, and a fixed-effects model was used for statistical analysis. In the plane rectangular coordinate system, the forest plot takes a vertical invalid line (scale of abscissa is 0) as the center, describes the effect quantity and 95% CI of each study by using multiple line segments parallel to the horizontal axis, and describes the effect quantity and confidence interval of multiple studies by using a diamond. mRSS, modified Rodnan skin score; MSCs, mesenchymal stem cells; CI, confidence interval; SMD, standardized mean difference