Mr. Andre Grixti MD FEBO FRCOphth CertLRS
Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon
Mr. Andre Grixti is a dual-specialty Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon at Blackpool Teaching Hospital NHS Trust with specialist interest in Cataract, Cornea and External Eye Disease and Oculoplastic Disorders.
Mr Grixti graduated as Doctor of Medicine and Surgery from the University of Malta in 2006 before moving to the United Kingdom in 2010 where he completed his Ophthalmology training in the Mersey Deanery spending most of his training at the world renowned St Paul’s Eye Unit based in the Royal Liverpool University Hospital. Mr Grixti obtained the Fellowship from the European Board of Ophthalmology (FEBO) in 2014 followed by the Fellowship from the Royal College of Ophthalmologists (FRCOphth) in 2015. During his training he developed an interest in Oculoplastic surgery and in 2016 he undertook a fellowship in oculoplastic, orbital and lacrimal surgery at Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead, a specialist referral centre for complex Oculoplastic care under the mentorship of Mr Raman Malhotra, one of the UK’s top cosmetic surgeons and an award-winning ophthalmic and oculoplastic surgeon whose work has received international recognition. In 2017 Mr Grixti gained an advanced fellowship in Cornea and Ocular surface disease at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London under the tutelage of Professor John Dart, Professor David Gartry, Mr Sajjad Ahmad and Mr Daniel Gore. This was followed by a second Cornea fellowship in 2018 at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital under the mentorship of Professor Stephen Kaye and Mr Mark Batterbury. In 2019 Mr Grixti was awarded the highly regarded Certificate in Laser Refractive Surgery (CertLRS) which is an accreditation achieved through completing a rigorous examination process by the Royal College of ophthalmologists in the field of refractive cataract surgery and laser refractive surgery. He has published papers in highly reputable peer-reviewed journals such as Ophthamology, Ocular Surface, British Journal of Ophthalmology and Orbit. He has also presented his work in national and international conference and was awarded three prizes at the North of England Ophthalmological Society annual conferences.
Since 2019 Mr Grixti holds the position of Cornea Lead at Blackpool Victoria Hospital where he runs the anterior segment service responsible for the treatment of complex corneal pathology as well as all corneal transplant surgery in the Lancashire region. He has particular interest in complex cataract surgery and advanced lamellar corneal transplantation techniques. In particular he has recently introduced the more modern Descemet Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty (DMEK) which may be combined with cataract surgery in Blackpool Teaching Hospital for the treatment of endothelial disease especially Fuchs endothelial dystrophy or pseudophakic bullous keratopathy providing a faster visual rehabilitation to patients with less risk of corneal graft rejection. In addition he performs other lamellar corneal transplants such as deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty (DALK) and Descemet’s stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty (DSAEK), novel pterygium operative techniques and has clinical expertise in the treatment of ocular surface diseases in particular patients with severe blepharitis, dry eye syndrome, allergic eye disorders, corneal infections (including contact lens associated acanthamoeba and fungal keratitis) and treatment of keratoconus and other ectatic corneal diseases (including the application of corneal collagen cross-linking which could be combined with surface excimer laser treatments), as well as the correction of various oculoplastic disorders such as lid surgery for facial palsy, brow lift, upper lid blepharoplasty, ectropion, entropion, eyelid skin grafts and in particular ptosis correction using a novel minimally invasive posterior approach known as white line advancement.
During his fellowship training in London at Moorfields and East Grinstead he was trained in ocular surface reconstruction using innovative operative techniques such as the use of oral mucosa grafts in periorbital reconstruction, as well as autologous simple limbal epithelial transplantation (SLET) in patients who suffered from unilateral corneal limbal stem cell failure secondary to chemical burns. Mr Grixti has published work on these topics in well-renowned peer reviewed journals as well as presented this work at international conferences. During his training in Moorfields he was extensively involved in research. He was one of the investigators in the Holocore Trial to assess the efficacy and safety of Autologous Cultivated Limbal Stem Cells Transplantation (ACLSCT) for restoration of corneal epithelium in patients with limbal stem cell deficiency due to ocular burns, being led by Mr Sajjad Ahmad. He was also one of the investigators in the ODAK Trial to compare the Clinical Resolution Rate at 12 months from randomization of 0.08% PHMB + placebo with that of 0.02% PHMB + 0.1% propamidine combination therapy for Acanthamoeba keratitis led by Professor John Dart.
To date Mr Grixti has performed over 1000 cataract surgeries including implantation of toric intraocular lenses to correct astigmatism, over 800 eyelid procedures and well over 250 lamellar corneal transplants.
