Rheumatic Fever Follow-Up Study (RhFFUS) protocol: a cohort study investigating the significance of minor echocardiographic abnormalities in Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander children

Table 1 Criteria for ARF, definite, probable, possible, potential

Diagnosis	Criteria
Definite ARF	Australian modified Jones criteria for high risk populations (includes echocardiographic evidence of carditis and monoarthritis as major criteria) [1]
Probable ARF	•Arthritis/arthralgia; and
	•One or more of: temperature ≥ 38°C, C-reactive protein ≥ 30 mg/L, erythrocyte sedimentation rate ≥ 30 mm/h, prolonged P-R interval on ECG*; and
	•GAS infection**; and
	•No other diagnosis [28]
Possible ARF	•Arthritis/arthralgia; and
	•GAS infection**; and
	•No other diagnosis
Potential ARF	•Arthritis/athralgia; and
Potential ARF	•No other diagnosis

*Upper limits of normal of P-R interval are: 3–12 years, 0.16s; 12–16 years, 0.18s; 17+ years, 0.20s [1].
**GAS infection is defined as throat swab positive for GAS on culture or serology consistent with recent GAS infection including elevated antistreptolysin O titre and antideoxyribonuclease B antibodies as outlined in the Australian guideline for prevention, diagnosis and management of acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease (2nd edition) [1].

ISSN: 1471-2261