With 2008 winding down, U.S. doctors ended the year with a bang when they performed the nation's first near-total face transplant at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. Reconstructive surgeon Dr. Maria Siemionow and a team of other specialists replaced 80 percent of the woman's face with that of a female cadaver in a bold and controversial operation. The patient's name and age were not released, and the hospital said her family wanted the reason for her transplant to remain confidential. The transplant was the fourth worldwide; two have been done in France, and one was performed in China.