have a conical form and the side of filter 40 will be covered with a suitable fabric similar to the fabric of filter 2 filter 40 is connected to a guide wire 42 which is used to preliminarily position filter 40 in vein 34 filter 40 may be introduced into vein 34 through a suitable sheath not shown in a conventional manner which sheath is then withdrawn due to the inherently lower pressure in vein 34 debris exiting tube 8 will be drawn into and through shunt 30 where it will be collected by filter 40 one effect of shunt 30 is to reduce the pressure in the aorta downstream of filter 2 as a result the pressure in the aorta upstream of filter 2 will be reduced thereby reducing stress on the patient 39 s heart fig2 shows a second embodiment of the invention that may be used during open heart surgery during which the patient 39 s heart 50 is generally stopped and the ascending aorta may or may not be clamped and can advantageously remain in place after surgery elements identical to those shown in fig1 are given the same reference numerals and will not again be described in detail filter 2.