Abstract: An aortic cannula, including a head which has a front end adapted for being inserted into the aorta, and a base communicating with a blood supply tube; the head is shaped as an oblate cone that flares out from the front end which is an ellipse in cross-section, towards the base which is a circle in cross-section, while the tube is provided with a plurality of through holes or perforations located in an immediate vicinity of the place where it is joined with the base, and has a slidable sleeve adapted to operatively cover the perforations.