The intensity of chromospheric structures observed in He I&lgr;1083 nm is strongly modulated by overlying coronal radiation. For this reason, observations in He I&lgr;1083 nm and their detailed comparison with photospheric magnetic fields and the X-ray corona allows us to deduce some aspects of coronal structures and of the topology of the coronal magnetic fields, particularly important at times when there are no direct coronal disk observations available. This paper discusses what He I&lgr;1083 nm spectroheliograms can tell us about the short- and long-term evolution of the coronal magnetic fields, focusing on coronal holes, the large-scale, long-lived two ‘ribbon’ flare that follow the filament eruptions, and small-scale, short-lived dark points. The National Solar Observatory/Kitt Peak He I&lgr;1083 nm and magnetic field data are compared with direct observations of the coronal structure from theYohkohSoft X-ray Telescope. ©1996 American Institute of Physics.