Results The age, immune dysfunction, septic shock, continuous renal replacement therapy(CRRT), lung-derived ARDS, severe ARDS, total fluid balance of 7 d, EVLWI and PVPI at the first 3 days, arterial partial pressure of carbon dioxide, airway peaks and oxygenation index were statistically significantly different between the living group and death group (all P < 0.05). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that the age [odds ratio (OR) = 1.190, 95% confidence interval (CI) (1.053, 1.346), P = 0.005], immune dysfunction [OR = 0.076, 95%CI (0.006, 0.925), P = 0.011], EVLWI on day 1 [OR = 1.078, 95%CI (0.978, 1.188), P = 0.013], EVLWI on day 2 [OR = 1.109, 95%CI (1.014, 1.214), P = 0.023], EVLWI on day 3 [OR = 1.115, 95%CI (1.015, 1.226), P = 0.024], PVPI on day 1 [OR = 2.048, 95%CI (1.167, 3.595), P = 0.012], PVPI on day 2 [OR = 2.070, 95%CI (1.187, 3.611), P = 0.010], PVPI on day 3 [OR = 2.366, 95%CI (1.271, 4.404), P = 0.007] and oxygenation index [OR = 0.973, 95%CI (0.957, 0.989), P = 0.002] were independent risk factors influencing the prognosis of ARDS patients, while CRRT [OR = 10.404, 95%CI (1.709, 63.347), P = 0.001] was the protective factor. ROC curve analysis showed that the age [area under the curve (AUC) = 0.677, 95%CI (0.546, 0.809), P = 0.013], immune dysfunction [AUC = 0.641, 95%CI (0.512, 0.770), P = 0.048], CRRT [AUC = 0.711, 95%CI (0.573, 0.792), P = 0.046], EVLWI on day 1 [AUC = 0.743, 95%CI (0.607, 0.861), P = 0.001], EVLWI on day 2 [AUC = 0.763, 95%CI (0.641, 0.884), P < 0.001], EVLWI on day 3 [AUC = 0.734, 95%CI (0.613, 0.855), P = 0.001], PVPI on day 1 [AUC = 0.711, 95%CI (0.586, 0.837), P = 0.004], PVPI on day 2 [AUC = 0.755, 95%CI (0.633, 0.877), P < 0.001], PVPI on day 3 [AUC = 0.793, 95%CI (0.686, 0.901), P < 0.001] and oxygenation index [AUC = 0.687, 95%CI (0.611, 0.854), P = 0.041] all had certain predictive value for ARDS patients.