CLEVELAND: A woman so horribly disfigured she was willing to risk her life to do something about it has undergone the first near-total face transplant in the United States.

Reconstructive surgeon Dr Maria Siemionow and a team of other specialists at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio replaced 80 per cent of the woman's face with that of a dead female donor a couple of weeks ago in a bold and controversial operation certain to stoke the debate over the ethics of such surgery.

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 doctors offered no details about the patient, but said they would discuss her surgery at a news conference later yesterday.

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