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Κλινική

1st Department of Ophthalmology

HEAD OF DEPARTMENT: FOTIS TOPOUZIS
 
History
The 1st Department of Ophthalmology of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, located in AHEPA University Hospital, was founded in 1943, in order to serve academic, medical and nursing needs in the field of Ophthalmology. Previous directors of the Department were Professors T. Tzanidis, G. Georgiadis, P. Konstas, H. Fragoulis, N. Stagos, N. Georgiadis and P. Oikonomidis.
Since the 1st of September 2016 the Head of the Department has been Professor Fotis Topouzis.
 
Outpatient Clinics
The 1st Department of Ophthalmology is the largest tertiary reference centre in Northern Greece, visited by a large number of patients every year. In 2017, a total of 18,000 appointments were scheduled while in 2018 the number rose to 20,000. The majority of patient visits concerned the special clinics of the Department:

Retina Clinic
Diagnosis and management of patients with retinal diseases, including Diabetic Retinopathy, Age Macular Degeneration, retinal vessels occlusion, retinal detachment and other inherited or acquired retinal disorders. The clinic provides OCT, FFA and ICG imaging.
 
Glaucoma Clinic
Diagnosis and management of glaucoma patients or suspects. The clinic provides OCT imaging and Visual field testing.
 
Cornea and Ocular surface Clinic
Diagnosis and management of corneal diseases, such as keratoconus, corneal dystrophies, ulcers and diseases of the ocular surface. The clinic provides corneal topography, anterior segment OCT and endotheliometer. 
The Eye Bank of Northern Greece is a Human Tissue Bank under the auspices of the National Transplant Organization. It is located in AHEPA University Hospital premises and managed by the 1st Department of Ophthalmology. The purpose of the Eye Bank is the collection, quality control and preservation of corneal grafts and ocular tissue.
 
Pediatric Ophthalmology Clinic
Diagnosis and management of pediatric patients with ocular pathology and management of strabismus in children and adults. 
 
Ocular Oncology Clinic
Diagnosis and management of patients with ocular neoplastic diseases.
 
General Ophthalmology Clinic
General screening and follow-up. Assessment of visual acuity and prescription of spectacles. Patient referral to special clinics, if necessary.
 
Surgical facilities
The 1st Department of Ophthalmology has four operation rooms where the following surgical interventions are performed: 

  • Cataract surgery.
  • Intravitreal injections, vitrectomies and surgical treatment of retinal detachment.
  • Glaucoma surgeries, such as trabeculectomy and implantation of drainage devices.
  • Corneal transplants (Penetrating keratoplasty, DMEK, DSAEK, DALK).
  • Strabismus surgery.
  • Management of surgical conditions of the eyelids and ocular surface (eg chalazion, pterygium).
  • Surgical management of ocular trauma and other emergency cases.

In 2017, approximately 3,000 operations were carried out, half of which concerned cataract treatment.
 

 The purpose of the Department is:

  • To serve the academic needs of the Medical School in the field of Ophthalmology at the undergraduate level.
  • To provide the necessary skills to physicians through continuous theoretical and practical training, in order to acquire the title of “Ophthalmology Specialist”.
  • The management and hospitalization of patients with diseases relevant to the field of Ophthalmology.
  • To conduct research programs in order to seek and develop new diagnostic and therapeutic methods.
  • To offer voluntary work to community: The mobile unit of the 1st Department of Ophthalmology (kindly provided by “Lions” organization) offers easy access to ophthalmological examination for populations living in remote areas.
  • To cooperate with Greek and International Academic and research Institutes or other organizations for scientific knowledge exchange and research purposes.
  • The organization of seminars, symposiums, conferences, lectures in order to inform and educate health care professionals or general population.

 
 Academic and training goals:

  • Education of the students of Medical School of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, as well as medical students from abroad, implementing European or International exchange programs (e.g. Erasmus program). Their education is carried out by the academic staff, as defined by the curriculum.
  • Training of resident doctors in the medical specialty of Ophthalmology. Training is both theoretical and practical. The theoretical part includes weekly courses, lectures by the members of the faculty and guest speakers, case reports, literature review, journal clubs and educational seminars or conferences. The practical part aims at obtaining clinical experience in diagnosis and treatment of patients and developing essential surgical skills.
  • Training of Ophthalmology Specialists in specific subspecialties (Fellowship). The 1st Department of Ophthalmology was the first to establish and apply the institution of Fellowship in the field of Medicine in Greece. Specifically, our Department provides one-year Fellowship in Glaucoma.
  • To provide PhD Theses in the field of Ophthalmology

 
Research goals:

  • To explore new diagnostic and therapeutic modalities and improve the efficiency of clinical practice. The doctors and personnel of the special clinics periodically plan, organize and conduct research protocols or participate in multicenter studies in their field of interest. The research protocols are evaluated by the Professors of the Department and discussed in scientific meetings. Moreover, Internal Audits are conducted to assess the performance of the Department, improve the provided services and share real world data with scientific community.

 
The results of research projects are presented in Greek and International congresses and published in scientific journals. Indicatively, some of the Department’s publications are:

 
DEPARTMENT STAFF
 
Faculty members
Professor-Head: Fotis Topouzis (CV)
Professor (3rd Department): Anastasios-Georgios Konstas (CV)
Associate Professor (3rd Department): Konstantinos Boboridis (CV)
  
NHS doctors
Stefanos Maloutas
Savvas Diafas
Georgios Balanikas
Dimitrios Peironidis
Irini Voudouragkaki  
 
Academic Scholars
Theofanis Pappas
Archimidis Koskosas (CV)
Theodoros Giannopoulos
Thomas Papathomas
Dimitrios Mikropoulos
Aikaterini Fragkou (CV)

Fellows
Christina Keskini
 
Scientific Associates
Efthimia Pavlidou
Ioannis Bisbas
Dimitrios Nanas
Kyriakos Manthos
Marina Badeka (CV)
Konstantinos Marinopoulos
 
Nursing staff
Head of clinic staff: Zoi Mantziari
Head of surgery staff: Chrysoula Lalou-Roussi
 

Ενδεικτικά ερευνητικά προγράμματα: 

  • Thessaloniki Eye Study (1999-2005): The largest population-based study in Glaucoma and Age-related Macular Degeneration in Greece and one of the largest in Europe.
  • EUREYE Study (2000-2007): multicenter epidemiological study which offered important information about AMD prevalence and risk factors in the European population.
  • GlaucoGENE Study (2006-2009): Study of a pan-European network of genetic epidemiology in glaucoma.
  • Thessaloniki Eye Study: 10-year incidence of glaucoma and age related macula degeneration (2012-2015)
  • EyeWatch System: Surgical Clinical Trial evaluating eyeWatch System/device (2017-ongoing): Pilot study on the safety and efficacy of externally adjustable devices in glaucoma patients.
  • An Investigation of Glaucoma Screening effectiveness (2019-ongoing): Study for early diagnosis of glaucoma in the general population and in high risk groups based on various imaging methods.
  • Studying the genetic basis of Inherited Retinal Diseases in Greece (GRID study, 2019-ongoing)

Detailed catalogue of research protocols
  

Laboratory of Research and Clinical Applications in Ophthalmology (LaRCAO):
The Laboratory of Research and Clinical Applications in Ophthalmology (LaRCAO) of the 1st Department of Ophthalmology of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, was founded in 2000 by Fotis Topouzis. The main research team of the LaRCAO laboratory consists of scientists from the fields of Ophthalmology and Medical Informatics and trained technicians. LaRCAO is a certified member of the European Vision Institute Clinical Research Network (EVICR.net) and is dedicated to conducting clinical research in ophthalmology with the highest quality standards.

Members

Ονοματεπώνυμο Ranksort descending Επικοινωνία
Konstadinos Boboridis Associate Professor boboridis@auth.gr
2310260066
Fotios Topouzis Professor ftop@auth.gr
2310994920

Contact

Secretariat of the School of Medicine
 

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