Final answer:
There is no combining vowel in 'hepatic' because the suffix starts with a vowel, which makes the use of a combining vowel unnecessary for pronunciation. The option (A) is correct.
Step-by-step explanation:
The term 'hepatic' does not use a combining vowel because of rule (b), which states that combining vowels are not used when the suffix begins with a vowel. In medical terminology, words are often formed by combining word roots, prefixes, and suffixes. A combining vowel, typically 'o', is used between two-word roots or a word root and a suffix to make the term easier to pronounce.
However, if the suffix or the second part of the compound word begins with a vowel, the combining vowel is not needed, as the vowels naturally flow together in pronunciation. Therefore, in the term 'hepatic', derived from 'hepato-' meaning 'liver' and the suffix '-ic' indicating about, no combining vowel is needed because the suffix begins with the vowel 'i'. Therefore, option (A) is correct.