ARF & RHD Guideline

The ARF RHD Guideline app is derived from The Australian guideline for prevention, diagnosis and management of acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease (2nd edition).
Applying the latest available evidence, RHDAustralia, an initiative of the Menzies School of Health Research, led a comprehensive review of the 2006 guideline originally produced by the Heart Foundation and the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand.
The revised guideline, funded by the Australian Government Department of Health expands on the first edition to provide clinicians with additional information on preventative action, diagnosis and management of acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and rheumatic heart disease (RHD).
The new guideline has clarified common questions and broadened the diagnosis criteria for probable ARF in high risk groups in order to assist clinicians when there are uncertain cases of ARF. A summary of the changes within the revised guideline can be found on pages 7-9 of the full guideline available from www.rhdaustralia.org.au.
RHDAustralia envisages that improved clinical care will result from improved and updated clinical care procedures for ARF and RHD patients.

The app also now has an ARF Diagnosis Calculator which embeds the lengthy and complex ARF diagnosis algorithms into a series of simple questions that assist clinicians to diagnose ARF. In March 2017 the Diagnostic Calculator was revised to incorporate algorithms for both high risk and low risk populations. The algorithms now comply with the 2015 American Heart Association revision of the Jones Criteria for diagnosis of ARF, which has been endorsed by the World Heart Federation, making the Diagnosis Calculator now able to used globally.