['Current guidelines recommend that women with negative Papanicolaou (Pap) test results and no endocervical/transformation zone (EC/TZ) sample return for screening within 12 months. For some women, this represents earlier follow-up than advocated in several routine screening guidelines. Controversy remains with regard to the correlation between sampling of the EC/TZ, Pap test quality, and disease risk assessment.', "A retrospective study was conducted reviewing the results from 143,438 liquid-based cervical Pap tests performed at a large academic women's hospital between July 2005 and December 2006. Vaginal Pap tests were excluded from the study. Women with any Pap result, women with low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSILs), and patients with high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL) Pap test results were stratified by 10-year age groups and according to the presence or absence of an EC/TZ sample (EC/TZS). Women with LSIL and HSIL Pap test results with and without an EC/TZS were also compared for rates of high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) DNA detection.", 'Of the total of 143,438 cervical Pap tests performed, 27,359 (19.1%) were reported to be lacking an EC/TZS. The absence of an EC/TZS was found to be highest in adolescents and in mature women aged >or=50 years. The overall detection rate of LSIL was 4.29% and that of HSIL was 0.64%. Both the LSIL and HSIL rates were found to be significantly higher in Pap tests with an EC/TZS compared with Pap tests without an EC/TZS (LSIL: 4.51% vs 3.37% and HSIL: 0.72% vs 0.29%). However, when women with LSILs and HSILs were divided into a group in which EC/TZS was present and a group in which EC/TZS was absent, no significant differences were found to be present with regard to hrHPV DNA rates between the 2 groups.'] Is adjunctive high-risk human papillomavirus DNA testing a useful option for disease risk assessment in patients with negative Papanicolaou tests without an endocervical/transformation zone sample?