Liu Y, et al. - In this prospective study performed in 100 spontaneously breathing patients with paraquat poisoning without mechanical ventilation admitted to a university hospital ICU, researchers assessed the prognostic roles of quantitative CT and pulmonary function tests and evaluated the association of dynamic strain and ventilation heterogeneity during unassisted spontaneous breathing with 90-day survival. A standardized treatment protocol was used. A new variable, Exp(%Wpoor/15), was generated as the weight of the poorly aerated lung compartment as a percentage of total lung weight (%Wpoor) was exponentially transformed. In this patient population, the identified independent prognostic indicators were Exp(%Wpoor/15) and percentage of residual volume/total lung capacity. Independent of Exp(%Wpoor/15) and percentage of residual volume/total lung capacity, worsened survival was observed in association with higher dynamic strain and increased ventilation heterogeneity during unassisted spontaneous breathing.