Possible reasons for predisposition to VALI include:

An injured lung may be at risk for further injury
Cyclic atelectasis is particularly common in an injured lung

Pathogenesis
Overdistension of alveoli and cyclic atelectasis (atelectotrauma) are the primary causes for alveolar injury during positive pressure mechanical ventilation. Severe injury to alveoli causes swelling of the tissues (edema) in the lungs, bleeding of the alveoli, loss of surfactant (decrease in lung compliance) and complete alveoli collapse (biotrauma). High flow rates are associated with rheotrauma, high volumes with volutrauma and pressures with barotrauma. Collectively these may be converted into a single unit of mechanical power. Diagnosis
VALI does not need to be distinguished from progressive ALI/ARDS because management is the same in both. Additionally, definitive diagnosis of VALI may not be possible because of lack of sign or symptoms. Prevention
Preventing alveolar overdistension
Alveolar overdistension is mitigated by using small tidal volumes, maintaining a low plateau pressure, and most effectively by using volume-limited ventilation. A 2018 systematic review by The Cochrane Collaboration provided evidence that low tidal volume ventilation reduced post operative pneumonia and reduced the requirement for both invasive and non invasive ventilation after surgery

Preventing cyclic atelectasis (atelectotrauma)
Applied positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) is the principal method used to keep the alveoli open and lessen cyclic atelectasis. Open lung ventilation
Open lung ventilation is a ventilatory strategy that combines small tidal volumes (to lessen alveolar overdistension) and an applied PEEP above the low inflection point on the pressure-volume curve (to lessen cyclic atelectasis).
High frequency ventilation is thought to reduce ventilator-associated lung injury, especially in the context of ARDS and acute lung injury.Permissive hypercapnia and hypoxaemia allow the patient to be ventilated at less aggressive settings and can, therefore, mitigate all forms of ventilator-associated lung injury

Epidemiology
VALI is most common in people receiving mechanical ventilation for acute lung injury or acute respiratory distress syndrome (ALI/ARDS).24 percent of people mechanically ventilated will develop VALI for reasons other than ALI or ARDS. The incidence is probably higher among people who already have ALI/ARDS, but estimates vary widely. The variable estimates reflect the difficulty in distinguishing VALI from progressive ALI/ARDS. References
External links
Ventilators and COVID-19: What You Need to Know, Yale Medicine