Training and education

Bachelor of medicine and surgery (MB ChB) - University of Glasgow, 1999
Master of science (MSc) in immunology and immunogenetics - University of Manchester, 2009
Fellow of Royal College of Ophthalmologists (FRCOphth), 2013
Clinical and research fellowship in cornea/external eye disease - Southampton, 2012-14
Specialist register in ophthalmology (GMC), 2014
Fellowship in cornea and refractive surgery - Singapore, 2014-15
Doctor of philosophy (PhD) in corneal imaging with OCT - University of Southampton, 2017

Having chosen a career in the anterior segment of the eye, Mr Konstantopoulos completed two years of advanced training (fellowship) on cornea and external eye disease at University Hospital Southampton and with the University of Southampton.

Following this, he subspecialised further by carrying out a fellowship in cornea and refractive surgery at the Singapore National Eye Centre and Singapore Eye Research Institute, one of the most prestigious eye institutions in the world. Impressed by his experience in Singapore, he has now incorporated new ideas and practices into treatments for conditions of the cornea, corneal transplantation and laser refractive surgery.

Experience

Mr Konstantopoulos was appointed as a consultant ophthalmologist at University Hospital Southampton in June 2015. He first joined the Trust in 2004 as a senior house officer and then completed his ophthalmology training in hospitals in the Wessex and Oxford deaneries.

His clinical activities focus on conditions of the cornea and the lens. He runs clinics where he sees patients referred with cataract, astigmatism, prior refractive surgery, keratoconus and corneal conditions requiring corneal transplantation, such as Fuchs endothelial dystrophy. He has theatre sessions dedicated to cataract surgery, collagen cross-linking and corneal surgery.

In addition to routine cataract surgery, Mr Konstantopoulos treats more complex refractive cataract cases where patients have astigmatism or have had refractive surgery in the past. He has a clinical interest in patients with keratoconus or high astigmatism and has a theatre list for collagen cross-linking, a treatment that stabilises the condition.

Mr Konstantopoulos is a corneal surgeon and regularly performs corneal transplantation, including endothelial keratoplasty, deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty and penetrating keratoplasty. The most common causes for corneal graft surgery are keratoconus, corneal infection and Fuchs endothelial dystrophy.

Mr Konstantopoulos also performs more minor corneal surgery for recurrent corneal erosion syndrome and pterygium.

Key achievements

The first epidemiological study on myopia in Greek military conscripts
Development of an optical coherence tomography scanning technique and protocol for corneal infections - this has been adopted internationally for clinical application and research.
Cornea and Refractive Surgery Fellowship at the prestigious Singapore National Eye Centre

Awards and prizes

Southampton University Hospitals Innovation Competition Award, 2008 - runner up. Awarded for work on assessment of microbial keratitis with anterior segment OCT.
Second congress of EuCornea, 2011: best paper in session. ‘Detection of different corneal inflammatory response in Gram negative and Gram positive bacterial keratitis'.
Fourth congress of EuCornea, 2013: best paper in session. ‘Corneal tissue loss in bacterial keratitis is associated with the extent of inflammation at presentation’.

Research

Mr Konstantopoulos's research has predominantly focused on the clinical applications of optical coherence tomography imaging of the cornea. His work led to the award of a doctor of philosophy (PhD) degree from the University of Southampton. Current clinical research interests include:

corneal imaging and quantification
refractive errors and correction
ectasia and collagen cross-linking.