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BACKGROUND: Pityriasis versicolor is a superficial mycosis, with a cosmopolitan distribution, more prevalent in tropical climates, caused by Malassezia spp, a lipophilic fungus, which colonizes seborrheic body areas. Adolescents and young adults are mostly affected, being infrequent in children and exceptional in infants. It is characterized by hypochromic, hyperchromic, or erythematous macules, typically located on the upper trunk, shoulders, and neck, but in infants, the face is most affected. Other rare variants have been described. Diagnosis is clinical or microbiological and, despite successful treatment, recurrence is the rule, so it is necessary to avoid precipitating factors and to give prophylactic therapy. CLINICAL CASES: This paper describes the cases of four minor infants: three with lesions on the forehead (two hypochromic, one erythematous), the other with hypochromic lesions on the back, papuloid variety; and 2 adolescents, one immunocompetent with generalized hypochromic lesions (atypical distribution), vitiligoid variant, and the other with acute lymphocytic leukemia, with hyperchromic lesions in typical distribution. The clinical diagnosis was supported by Wood's light and direct examination. Topical treatment was indicated, combining systemic therapy in one case and antifungal prophylaxis in all. CONCLUSIONS: Generalized involvement was found in an immunocompetent patient, which usually occurs in immunosuppressed patients. The chromatic variants and some of the morphological and topographic variants described in this disease could be seen in the cases presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]