A big round applause for Izak de Kom, who defended his PhD thesis on the 6th of December!

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is common in intensive care unit (ICU) patients, with drugs being significant risk factors for AKI. This thesis aims to improve medication safety in the ICU with respect to drug-induced AKI (DAKI) by answering causal questions. The research identified 14 drug groups associated with a higher risk of AKI and provided stronger evidence for a causal link for one specific drug – vancomycin – by using target trial emulation (TTE). It also reviewed studies that developed prediction models for the diagnosis or prognosis of adverse drug events in hospitalized patients and proposed ways to better address causal relationships between drugs and adverse events in future research. Finally, the thesis presents a new causal model-based approach for the diagnosis of DAKI, which involves combining TTE with individualized treatment effect estimation. This thesis is relevant for clinicians and researchers as it presents novel etiological insights and directions for future research on DAKI in the ICU.

Curious? Please read the PhD thesis on Drug-induced acute kidney injury in intensive care patients

Izak de Kom. Drug-induced acute kidney injury in intensive care patients