Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an immune-driven neurological disease with a conspicuously heterogeneous distribution that affects approximately 2.3 million people worldwide.

The 5th International Porto Congress of Multiple Sclerosis took place on February 2019 in the city of Porto, Portugal, and brought together a number of world-known experts in the field who shared their latest discoveries and discussed targets in MS healthcare that have yet to be met.

This review summarizes the main talks given during the congress, including the state-of-the-art description, ground-breaking projects and promising results.

Discussed topics are as diverse as the epidemiology of MS in different continents, the development of and pitfalls in progressive MS, differential diagnosis and related diseases, medical management, cognitive impairment and its consequences, pregnancy and family planning and advances in molecular research and imaging techniques.