Doctors hailed a groundbreaking transplant to replace 80 per cent of a woman's face, saying on Wednesday it is a means for the severely disfigured to "face the world" without humiliation. It was the world's first near-total facial transplant and the fourth known facial transplant to have been successfully performed to date. "We need the face to face the world," said lead surgeon and researcher Maria Siemionow of the Cleveland. "There are so many patients there, in their houses, where they are hiding from the society because they are afraid to walk to the grocery stores. They are afraid to go to the streets, because they're called names, and they are humiliated. "So we very much hope that for this very special group of patients, there is a hope that one day they will be able to go comfortably from their houses and enjoy the things which we take for granted."