Acute Rheumatic Fever Diagnostic Network (ARC Network) clinical recruitment protocol

Journal article

Introduction

Rheumatic heart disease, a major cause of morbidity and mortality in low- and middle-income countries, results from acute rheumatic fever (ARF), for which no diagnostic test currently exists. The ARF Diagnosis Collaborative Network (ARC Network) was established to address this gap by recruiting a rigorously phenotyped, globally representative cohort of children and adolescents with ARF and controls to support biomarker discovery. This paper describes the ARC Network's multicentre recruitment strategy and standardised procedures for classifying ARF cases and controls, enabling robust development of novel, accessible diagnostics.

Methods and analysis

The ARC Network recruits children and adolescents aged 3-18 years with suspected ARF and matched controls across four countries. Clinical, laboratory and echocardiographic data are collected using standardised protocols. Echocardiographic and clinical core teams provide rigorous standardised case review. Biospecimens are processed locally following harmonised procedures and shipped to a central biobank for long-term storage and future biomarker studies. Centralised training, quality control and a research database ensure high-quality, globally representative data to support ARF biomarker discovery.

Ethics and dissemination

The ARC Network follows Institutional Review Board protocols with local ethical approval and informed consent, and oversees clinical data and biobank use for ARF research.

Authors: Fall, N; Bowen, AC; Buonfiglio, S; Francis, JR; Gorman, C

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: BMJ Publishing Group
• Journal: BMJ Open More from this journal
• Volume: 16
• Issue: 3
• Pages: e114968-e114968
• Article number: ARTN e114968
• Publication date: 2026-03-25
• Acceptance date: 2026-03-06
• DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2025-114968
• EISSN: 2044-6055
• ISSN: 2044-6055
• Language: English
• Keywords: multicentre cohort; low- and middle-income countries; diagnostic biomarkers; acute rheumatic fever; biobanks; children and adolescents; echocardiography; rheumatic heart disease; case classification