Link To Revision of the Jones Criteria for the Diagnosis of Acute Rheumatic Fever in the Era of Doppler Echocardiography: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association

In this post I link to Revision of the Jones Criteria for the Diagnosis of Acute Rheumatic Fever in the Era of Doppler Echocardiography: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association [Pubmed Abstract] [Full-Text HTML]. Circulation. 2015 May 19;131(20):1806-18.

All that follows is from the above.

1. Echocardiography with Doppler should be performed in all cases of confirmed and suspected ARF (Class I; Level of Evidence B).

2. It is reasonable to consider performing serial echocardiography/Doppler studies in any patient with diagnosed or suspected ARF even if documented carditis is not present on diagnosis (Class IIa; Level of Evidence C).

3. Echocardiography/Doppler testing should be performed (strictly fulfilling the findings noted inTables 2 and 3) to assess whether carditis is present in the absence of auscultatory findings, particularly in moderate- to high-risk populations and when ARF is considered likely (Class I; Level of Evidence B).

4. Echocardiography/Doppler findings not consistent with carditis should exclude that diagnosis in patients with a heart murmur otherwise thought to indicate rheumatic carditis (Class I; Level of Evidence B).