title: The breach rhythm.
abstract: Electroencephalography (EEG) recordings obtained after craniotomy are difficult to interpret because of the presence of a breach rhythm (BR) consisting of unfiltered high-voltage physiological waveforms, sometimes with a spiky and irregular morphology, that can mimic interictal epileptiform abnormalities and may therefore lead to misinterpretations. In this article, we review EEG features of BR and give some technical tips to properly interpret BR and to make a correct differential diagnosis with epileptiform abnormalities. As BR itself has no relationship to epilepsy, it is very important to adopt a "conservative" reading, having a high threshold to call epileptiform abnormalities.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurological, Neuropsychological, Morphological and Movement Sciences, Section of Clinical Neurology, University of Verona, Italy. dr.francescobrigo@gmail.com
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Brigo
authors.forename: Rosario
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cicero
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fiaschi
authors.forename: Luigi Giuseppe
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Bongiovanni
mesh_terms: D058256:Brain Waves / Q000502:physiology*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000379:methods; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D006181:H-Reflex / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D012886:Skull / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery