Prevalence of higher-grade dysplasia in persistently high-risk human papillomavirus positive, cytology negative women after introduction of the new cervical cancer screening in Germany.

Persistently hrHPV positive women with negative cytology are at increased risk of being diagnosed with CIN 3. As CIN 3 prevalence seems to differ with regard to hrHPV strain, immediate HPV genotyping for risk stratification and subsequent early referral for colposcopy might constitute a feasible strategy.