NPPB and acute respiratory distress syndrome: Following adjustment for confounders including age, sex, New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional classification, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), log-transformed brain natriuretic peptide (lgBNP), and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels, the independent association of ALI score (hazard ratio (HR): 0.984, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.977–0.990; p < 0.0001) and serum chloride (HR: 0.915, 95% CI: 0.897–0.933; p < 0.0001) with all-cause mortality persisted.