The authors report a case of a 20-year-old patient with the following clinical features: a) complete rotation of the liver into the left upper quadrant; b) severe hypotension secondary to inferior vena cava compression; c) congenital malformation of falciform and coronary ligaments; d) obstruction of the transverse colon due to congenital peritoneal fibrotic bands; e) massive colonic dilatation in the right upper quadrant. The patient was treated by resection of the pericolonic bands, and during the operation the liver returned to its anatomic position, in the right upper abdomen. This unique condition, and the three other similar cases reported in the world literature are discussed.

Keywords: Hepatic torsion. Transverse colon. Obstructive band.

The conus medullaris is frequently affected by inflammatory and infectious lesions which many times are hardly differentiated because of the similarity of their clinical history and physical examination among the different etiologies. Magnetic resonance imaging presents high sensitivity in the detection of these lesions and plays a relevant role in the diagnosis as well as in the evolutive control of the condition. The present pictorial essay with selected cases from the archives of the authors' institution is aimed at demonstrating imaging findings which might help in the diagnosis of a specific etiology amongst inflammatory an infectious conditions and in the differentiation with diseases of neoplastic and vascular etiologies, for example. Findings such as enhancement pattern, presence of cysts, edema and involvement of other regions of the central nervous system are important for this differentiation, and may define a specific etiology as associated with clinical and laboratory tests findings.

Keywords: Magnetic resonance imaging; Myelitis; Transverse myelitis; Schistosomiasis.

Os nervos cranianos representam extensões das estruturas funcionais do cérebro que cruzam a cabeça e o pescoço. Eles estão ligados a diferentes estruturas cranianas e se relacionam com diversas doenças. Uma compreensão profunda de sua complexa anatomia e aparência normal de imagem permite ao examinador identificar e caracterizar com mais precisão as anormalidades. A ressonância magnética com contraste é uma importante ferramenta para avaliar essas estruturas, especialmente as sequências tridimensionais de precessão livre de estado estacionário, que proporcionam alta resolução espacial e de partes moles, apesar da fina espessura dos nervos cranianos. Na maioria dos casos, os achados de imagem são inespecíficos, e uma anamnese completa, exame físico dirigido e testes laboratoriais são necessários para estreitar o diagnóstico diferencial. Este ensaio iconográfico ilustra e discute doenças congênitas, traumáticas e vasculares dos nervos cranianos, mostrando imagens em uma abordagem fisiopatológica.

Keywords: Neuroimagem/métodos; Radiologia/métodos; Ressonância magnética/métodos; Nervos cranianos/diagnóstico por imagem.